Caribbean islands reel from Hurricane Melissa’s devastating impact as storm heads north
By Sophie Tanno, CNN
(CNN) — Rescue efforts are underway across the Caribbean after Hurricane Melissa tore through the region as one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in more than 150 years.
Torrential downpours and forceful winds have already unleashed widespread destruction along the storm’s path in Jamaica, Cuba and the Bahamas.
Melissa is now headed for Bermuda as a Category 2 storm, where it won’t make landfall but will bring quick-hitting bursts of strong winds and rain as soon as late Thursday afternoon.
Authorities in Bermuda have closed the Causeway – a transport link connecting Bermuda’s main island with St. David’s Island – in preparation. All schools and ferries will also be shut on Friday, among other measures, out of an “abundance of caution,” said Michael Weeks, Bermuda’s national security minister, according to Reuters.
The storm has damaged homes, caused severe flooding, left widespread power outages in its wake and forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands.
Emergency officials have begun to pick up the pieces, clearing roads to reach isolated communities in need of relief, as several international efforts have also been launched.
At least 30 people are known to have died, though the full toll of the catastrophic storm may take days or weeks to be determined.
Jamaica hardest hit
The island of Jamaica took the heaviest battering. Hurricane Melissa made landfall there Tuesday at its strongest – as a Category 5 storm – with estimated maximum sustained winds of 185 mph (295 kph).
Alfred Hines, 77, who lives in Jamaica’s Montego Bay, told how he waded barefoot through mud to escape rising floodwaters. Speaking to Reuters on Wednesday, he said: “At one stage, I see the water at my waist and (after) about 10 minutes’ time, I see it around my neck here and I make my escape.”
Authorities have yet to reach the worst-affected areas. So far, four bodies have been found in St. Elizabeth Parish in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, a source in the government told CNN on Wednesday.
Three people also died during storm preparations, but the government has not provided a death toll since the hurricane battered the island on Tuesday.
Around 25,000 tourists remained in Jamaica as the country emerged from the storm, Dana Morris Dixon, minister of education, skills, youth and information, said in a statement.
Around 140,000 people were cut off as the storm pummeled the island, the government said.
Overall, the country’s infrastructure has taken a battering, leaving it “severely compromised,” according to Desmond McKenzie, Jamaica’s minister of local government and community development.
A CNN crew observed residents and military personnel push more than a dozen ambulances past storm debris in the town of Santa Cruz as the medical convoy headed to a coastal area in western Jamaica, which was hit hard.
Schools around the Jamaican capital, Kingston, on the eastern side of the island, are expected to reopen Monday, Dixon, the education minister, said in a news conference Thursday.
‘Extensive damage’ in Cuba
Cuba was also hit hard after the hurricane made landfall there as a Category 3 storm on Wednesday. The country sustained “extensive damage,” according to Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel.
This included flooding, mudslides, property destruction and infrastructure damage, particularly in Cuba’s eastern regions, where hundreds of rural communities were left isolated. In the province of Santiago, at least 241 communities were cut off due to the storm, Reuters reported.
More than 735,000 people were evacuated in Cuba as Melissa approached.
Cuba’s foreign ministry said it is in touch with the US State Department to get clarity on how the United States would be willing to help the people of Cuba recover from the hurricane.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced earlier Thursday that the US is “prepared to provide immediate humanitarian assistance” to the Cuban people – both directly and through local partners.
The Trump administration has historically taken a hard-line stance against the Communist-ruled island. In June, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum that the White House said would increase pressure on the Cuban government and support the long-running US economic embargo of the island.
Rubio said Thursday that US law includes exemptions that authorize private donations of food, medicine and other humanitarian goods to Cuba, as well as disaster response.
Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío responded to the offer by saying, “We have been in contact with the State Department and are awaiting clarification on how and in what way they are willing to assist.”
Cuba is already receiving some aim from partners such as China and Venezuela, as well as the United Nations.
High death toll in Haiti
Meanwhile, the highest death toll so far has been reported in Haiti, where the hurricane did not make direct landfall but caused significant damage and at least 23 deaths due to severe flooding and landslides. Twenty of these fatalities, including 10 children, were due to flooding in Petit-Goâve, where a flooded river burst its banks.
Steven Guadard, who lives in Petit-Goâve, told the Associated Press the storm killed his entire family.
“I had four children at home: a 1-month-old baby, a 7-year-old, an 8-year-old and another who was about to turn 4,” he said.
International efforts
The United Kingdom said on Wednesday it was deploying £2.5 million ($3.3 million) in emergency humanitarian funding. The British government also said it was chartering a limited number of flights to help British nationals leave Jamaica.
China’s ambassador to Cuba shared a video on social media on Tuesday showing hundreds of boxes labeled as “family kit” being transported from a warehouse.
CNN’s Mitchell McCluskey, Briana Waxman, Karina Tsui, Michael Rios, Patrick Oppmann and Maija Ehlinger contributed to this report.
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