Hurricane Melissa is expected to hit eastern Cuba after passing Jamaica. NBC News’ Ed Augustin reports on how the island is dealing with power cuts, food shortages and an outbreak of tropical diseases as the storm approaches.

Hurricane Melissa strengthened into a Category 5 storm early Monday, unleashing torrential rain and threatening to bring catastrophic flooding to the northern Caribbean.

The U.S. Navy was evacuating hundreds of residents from its base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, ahead of Melissa after the commander there expanded an earlier order to include all “non-mission-essential-U.S. citizens.”