Hurricane Melissa claims around fifty lives in Caribbean
(MENAFN) Hurricane Melissa finally began moving out of the Caribbean on Friday after days of powerful winds and flooding, leaving around 50 people dead across the region. The storm is expected to transition into a “powerful post-tropical cyclone” as it moves north, with eastern Canada potentially experiencing brief heavy rain and gusty winds, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).
Flooding was easing in the Bahamas, though high water levels remained in Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. Scientists have noted that human-caused climate change made such an extreme storm four times more likely.
Melissa struck Jamaica and Cuba with tremendous force, leaving residents to assess widespread damage. Jamaica’s Information Minister Dana Morris Dixon reported 19 confirmed deaths, with the possibility of several more. Kingston’s international airport has already received 13 cargo relief flights, with at least 20 more expected. Transportation Minister Daryl Vaz urged residents to remain patient: "You probably are feeling that you are forgotten. You are not forgotten."
In Haiti, the civil defense agency reported 30 fatalities, 20 injuries, and 20 missing persons, with over 1,000 homes flooded and roughly 16,000 people in shelters. Meanwhile, Cuba faced severe flooding and structural damage, with about 735,000 people evacuated in provinces including Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, and Guantanamo. Streets were submerged, homes destroyed, windows shattered, power lines downed, and roofs torn off.
International relief efforts are underway. The United States deployed disaster response and search-and-rescue teams to the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Haiti, and offered humanitarian aid to Cuba. The UK pledged $3.3 million in emergency funding and chartered flights for British nationals.
Melissa tied the 1935 record for the most intense storm to make landfall when it struck Jamaica on Tuesday. Locals described widespread devastation, with one farmer stating, "Everything is gone." UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell called the storm a "brutal reminder of the urgent need to step up climate action on all fronts."
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