The confirmed death toll from Hurricane Melissa rose to 49 on Thursday, official reports said, after the storm caused widespread devastation across the northern Caribbean and gained strength while moving past Bermuda in the North Atlantic.
The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said flooding was likely to ease in the Bahamas, though high water levels could continue in Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, and the nearby Dominican Republic. A study by Imperial College London found that the storm, among the strongest ever recorded, was made four times more likely due to human-induced climate change, as per an AFP report.
Hurricane Melissa update: Top 10 points
- Haitian authorities mentioned at least 30 deaths and 20 people were unaccounted for after days of heavy rains caused by the slow-moving storm, even though the country was not directly hit.
2. While confirming at least 19 fatalities, Jamaica’s information minister said search and rescue operations were ongoing. The storm also left hundreds of thousands without electricity, tore roofs off buildings, and scattered debris across fields, according to Reuters.
3. Jamaica’s military has called up reserve personnel to assist with relief and rescue efforts.
4. Winds were well above the threshold for the strongest hurricane category, and forecasters at AccuWeather said it tied for the second-strongest Atlantic hurricane on record in terms of windspeed at landfall. AccuWeather estimated the storm caused between $48 billion and $52 billion in damage and economic losses across the western Caribbean.
5. The hurricane also affected eastern Cuba, prompting the evacuation of around 735,000 people, though no deaths were reported as of Thursday despite significant damage to homes and crops.
6. Residents in Bermuda stayed calm as the storm was forecasted to pass the island at a relatively safe distance. Authorities announced they would close the causeway Thursday night and suspend schools and ferries on Friday “out of an abundance of caution.”
7. In the Bahamas, where Melissa passed through Wednesday night, officials lifted storm warnings but did not declare the “all clear.” An official stated that authorities expected to decide by Saturday whether it was safe for the hundreds of evacuees from affected islands to return home.
8. Felicia Correa, who resides in the La Trampa community near El Cobre, informed AFP, “Melissa “killed us, because it left us destroyed. We were already going through tremendous hardship. Now, of course, we are much worse off.”
9. Meanwhile, Cuban officials stated that approximately 735,000 people had been evacuated, primarily from the provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, and Guantánamo.
10. Melissa struck southwestern Jamaica on Tuesday as a powerful Category 5 hurricane, marking the Caribbean nation’s strongest storm to make direct landfall and the first major hurricane to do so since 1988.
(With inputs from agencies)
Hurricane Melissa, death toll, Jamaica, Category 5 hurricane, economic losses
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