Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba take stock after Hurricane Melissa destruction

7 hours ago 2

Recovery efforts are nether mode crossed Jamaica aft Melissa rips disconnected roofs, cuts energy and unleashes floodwaters.

Published On 30 Oct 2025

People crossed the bluish Caribbean are reeling from the devastation of Hurricane Melissa arsenic dozens of deaths are reported successful Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti.

The hurricane – astatine Category 5, the strongest connected grounds to deed Jamaica straight – ripped crossed the Caribbean islands connected Tuesday and Wednesday, sidesplitting astatine slightest 25 radical successful Haiti, 8 successful Jamaica and 1 successful the Dominican Republic.

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The United States-based National Hurricane Center said aboriginal connected Thursday that Melissa’s oculus was expected to determination distant from the southeastern and cardinal Bahamas earlier passing westbound of Bermuda.

Although the tempest was downgraded to Category 1, the lowest spot connected the Saffir-Simpson scale, it was inactive packing winds of 155km/h (100mph) with adjacent higher gusts, the NHC reported.

In Haiti, wherever astir 12,000 radical remained successful exigency shelters, families grappled with the rising decease toll. Twenty radical were reported dormant successful the confederate coastal municipality of Petit-Goave alone, wherever a stream burst its banks and collapsed dozens of homes.

Hurricane Melissa leaves way of demolition crossed bluish Caribbean

Resident Steven Guadard told The Associated Press quality bureau that Melissa killed his full family: “I had 4 children astatine home: a one-month-old baby, a seven-year-old, an eight-year-old and different who was astir to crook four.”

Although nary deaths were tallied successful Cuba, much than 735,000 evacuated residents dilatory returned location arsenic the subject helped to rescue radical successful isolated communities.

Recovery efforts were rolling retired crossed Jamaica’s occidental parishes, wherever Melissa ripped roofs from homes, felled trees, flooded hospitals, and chopped disconnected energy and water.

Yet adjacent arsenic Prime Minister Andrew Holness pledged a “credible and strong” betterment strategy, residents pleaded for help.

Sylvester Guthrie, a nonmigratory of the hard-hit parish of St Elizabeth, was near with lone his bicycle.

“I don’t person a location now,” Guthrie told the AP. Although helium has onshore successful different location, helium said, “I americium going to request help.”

‘Ground zero’

The centre of Melissa did not transverse implicit Jamaica’s capital, Kingston, allowing exigency alleviation flights ferrying water, nutrient and different supplies to commencement landing astatine Norman Manley International Airport aft it reopened precocious connected Wednesday.

As the premier curate took a chopper circuit of the damage, the Jamaica Public Service inferior kicked disconnected a harm appraisal arsenic the bulk of the island’s 2.8 cardinal residents were near without electricity. It warned them to debar downed powerfulness lines “at each costs”.

To the island’s west, parishes, including St James and St Elizabeth, were rocked by torrential floodwaters, almighty winds and landslides.

In the historical larboard municipality of Black River, the hurricane levelled homes, destroyed historical buildings and flooded aesculapian attraction facilities, destroying the “entire infrastructure”, Holness said successful a video update from the town.

To the north, dense operation instrumentality crawled done the mud-soaked streets of St James Parish to wide blockages and propulsion speech felled trees. Video footage showed dazed residents wandering astir extracurricular to measure the damage.

The United States and the United Kingdom person pledged support.

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