The National Hurricane Center in Miami says Melissa has begun affecting the southeastern Bahamas. Authorities in the Bahamas have been evacuating dozens of people from the archipelago’s southeast corner ahead of Melissa’s arrival as a Category 1 storm. Melissa’s center is forecast to move through the southeastern Bahamas later Wednesday, generating up to 7 feet (2 meters) of storm surge in the area. The hurricane initially made landfall in Jamaica as one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record. The storm has killed at least 34 people across Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.