Hurricane Melissa brings destruction and devastation
As Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in Cuba, Jamaican authorities begin investigating the extensive damage left in its wake.
Communities across the northern Caribbean are reeling from the effects of Hurricane Melissa, which hit the region Friday as one of the strongest Atlantic storms on record, leaving a trail of devastation.
The hurricane brought torrential rain and damaging winds, leaving hundreds of thousands without power, destroying homes and littering fields with debris. Rescue and recovery efforts were underway but continued to be hampered by widespread power outages and road closures.
After making its closest approach around 2 a.m. ET on Friday morning, Melissa sped away from Bermuda as a Category 1 storm with hurricane-force wind gusts, reaching about 150 miles north-northwest of land, the National Hurricane Center said. By 5 a.m., Melissa was retreating northeast at 41 mph with winds of 90 mph.
In Jamaica, local authorities said crews and residents were working on relief efforts. Desmond McKenzie, the country’s Minister for Local Government and Community Development, previously said more than 170 communities in six parishes were moderately or severely affected by the storm.
Jamaica’s Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Dana Dixon, said on Thursday: “The whole of Jamaica is truly shattered by what has happened, but we remain resilient.” “We’re going to get there…We’re going to go to all Jamaicans and give them support.”
Heavy rains caused severe damage in Cuba and Haiti. Flooding and landslides have left more than 200 communities stranded and without communication, said Francisco Pichon, the United Nations’ resident coordinator in Cuba. The hurricane caused devastating flooding in Haiti, damaging homes and forcing thousands of people to seek emergency shelters.
Officials in the region said they expected the death toll to rise further as they continued to confirm reported deaths and search for missing people. By Thursday night, at least 50 people had died from the storm.
Authorities in Haiti, which was not directly hit by the hurricane but suffered daily rain, said on Thursday that at least 30 people had been killed in the storm and another 20 were missing. In the coastal town of Petit Goave, about 60 miles west of the capital, a river burst its banks and flooding killed at least 23 people, including 10 children.
In Jamaica, the country’s information minister told Reuters on Thursday that at least 19 people had been killed in the storm. Local officials previously said a helicopter was deployed to recover the bodies and authorities were continuing search and rescue operations.
At least two deaths were reported in the Dominican Republic, one of whom died before the storm made landfall, the Pan American Health Organization said. Before landfall, authorities reported the storm killed three people in Jamaica and three people in Haiti.
Hurricane Melissa is expected to weaken to a tropical storm before passing south of Newfoundland’s Avalon Peninsula on Friday night, the Hurricane Center said. It is also expected to reach about 930 kilometers from Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, by late Friday.
Swells generated by the storm will affect the northeastern U.S. coast and Atlantic Canada and continue into the weekend, bringing life-threatening rip currents and wave conditions, forecasters said.
Melissa would pose a “significant risk to life, property and business operations” in Newfoundland, AccuWeather reported.
Humanitarian organizations are mobilizing to provide immediate relief and prepare for long-term post-storm recovery.
Donations and other forms of support can be made to organizations such as American Friends of Jamaica, American Red Cross, Americares, CARE, Global Giving, and the Salvation Army. See the complete list here.
Jamaican authorities have also launched a Support Jamaica website (https://supportjamaica.gov.jm/) where donations can be made. The government also warned that there were “nefarious individuals” collecting funds on behalf of the government, but that only sites ending in .gov.jm were official government sites.
Contributors: N’dea Yancey-Bragg and Samantha Neely, USA TODAY. Reuters
