Caribbean islands reel from Hurricane Melissa’s devastating impact as storm heads north

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.

(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 lashed Bermuda as a Category 1 storm overnight Thursday into Friday as the storm passed the islands, bringing quick-hitting bursts of strong wind and rain. The storm is expected to weaken and become post-tropical as it races south of Newfoundland into cooler Atlantic water.

Ahead of the storm, authorities in Bermuda closed the Causeway – a transport link connecting the main island with the smaller St. David’s Island. All schools will be shut and ferries canceled 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 and widespread power outages, and forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands across the Caribbean.

At least 49 people are known to have died, Reuters reported, though the full toll of the catastrophic storm may take days or weeks to be determined.

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.

The regional Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), activated by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on October 29, has deployed and will be on the ground today.

Jamaica hardest hit

Jamaica took the heaviest battering. Melissa made landfall there as a Category 5 storm, with estimated maximum sustained winds of 185 mph (295 kph).

“Complete and utter destruction” is how CNN’s Derek Van Dam described the streets of Jamaica’s hard-hit coastal town of Black River on Thursday.

People gathering around the Black River Bridge searched for water, food and news about their loved ones. The Jamaican Defense Forces have landed in the area by helicopter, but desperation is setting in for residents, Van Dam reported. Many are trying to leave the area with their personal items by car, motorbike or on foot.

Black River is dealing with the aftermath of over 15 feet of storm surge from Hurricane Melissa, which devastated the infrastructure of the town in the southwestern part of the island.

The heat and humidity are complicating recovery efforts. There is a makeshift refugee camp of people who rode out the storm, but nothing remains standing.

“Everything is gone,” one Black River resident, Britney Samms, told CNN.

Looting was reported in the area. Van Dam described it as “a matter of survival.”

“What once was paradise is now hell on earth,” he said of the town, first established in the 17^th century and lately known as a center for environmental tourism.

But the CNN team also witnessed signs of hope. Amid the chaos, there were moments of laughter and exchanges of hugs, as loved ones reunited after the storm.

In Montego Bay on Jamaica’s northwestern coast, Alfred Hines, 77, 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 in Jamaica have recovered at least four bodies in the badly hit St. Elizabeth Parish, a source in the government told CNN on Wednesday. The Jamaica Constabulary Force confirmed eight more deaths on Thursday in Westmoreland, Hanover and St. James.

Three people also died during storm preparations.

Around 25,000 tourists remained in Jamaica as the country emerged from the storm, education minister Dana Morris Dixon said in a Tuesday statement.

On Thursday, more than 13,000 residents were still in shelters, while 72% of the island was without power, Jamaican government officials said.

Overall, the country’s infrastructure has taken a battering, leaving it “severely compromised,” according to Desmond McKenzie, minister for local government and community development.

A CNN crew observed residents and military personnel pushing 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 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 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.

As many as 140,000 people were cut off due to rising rivers as the storm passed, according to the Red Cross. 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 with recovery.

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 administration of President Donald Trump has historically taken a hard-line stance against the communist-ruled island. In June, the president 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 aid from partners such as China and Venezuela, as well as the United Nations.

High death toll in Haiti

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 30 deaths, Reuters said. 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.

On Friday, the UK pledged an additional an additional 5 million pounds ($6.5 million).

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.

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