First deaths from Hurricane Melissa confirmed in Jamaica and Haiti

Hurricane Melissa continues its devastating impact across the Caribbean, destroying homes and infrastructure, flooding neighborhoods, and killing dozens of people.

The impact on Jamaica was clearer on Wednesday after the island nation was directly targeted by a category five monster, one of the strongest hurricanes ever measured in the region. At least five people are confirmed dead there.

At least 20 more people have died during flooding in Haiti as Melissa, a category one storm, currently wreaks havoc on the region.

In Jamaica, people were stranded on rooftops and without power. Prime Minister Andrew Holness noted the “total devastation” across the island nation.

He added that “80-90% of the roofs were destroyed” as well as hospitals, libraries, police stations, port houses and other urban infrastructure.

Jamaica’s president, King Charles, said in a statement that he was “deeply concerned” and “deeply saddened” by the damage caused by Melissa in Jamaica and the Caribbean.

“These worst record-breaking storms remind us of the increasingly urgent need to restore the balance and harmony of Nature for the well-being of all whose lives and livelihoods may have been shattered by this heartbreaking disaster,” he said.

From Jamaica, where the storm caused mudslides and palm trees to be thrown like toothpicks, Melissa moved north to Cuba as a category three storm, bringing 185 mph winds and heavy rain and hitting the southeast of the island.

Video producer Rovier Mesa Rodríguez, who lives in Santiago de Cuba, called the storm “terrible” and said it sounded “like a tornado.”

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel asked citizens to “keep their guard up” and said the country was preparing for the worst-case scenario, which was aiding the response.

The hurricane began moving northeast toward the Bahamas on Wednesday. A dangerous storm surge is expected here before moving north towards Bermuda.

There is a tropical storm warning for the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the speed of the slow-moving hurricane is expected to increase in the coming days.

Three men and one woman are confirmed dead in Jamaica. Jamaica’s Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Desmond McKenzie, said they were discovered after being swept away by floodwaters during the storm.

Nearly three-quarters of the country lost power overnight.

Montego Bay Mayor Richard Vernon told the BBC that half of the city was cut off from the other due to the flooding. He said the priority was to “check if everyone is alive.”

A resident holed up in his four-bedroom home in St Elizabeth has described the moment his roof was blown off.

Gordon Swaby, a businessman from Kingston, told the BBC that his first cousin’s house was completely destroyed. Her cousin, whose name she declined to give, recently moved from the United States to her “dream” seaside home in the upscale Crane Road area. He lost the entire concrete structure and everything inside.

“He wanted a different lifestyle,” Gordon said. “He chose the area because he loved the sea, this is truly devastating.”

Destruction was evident in central Jamaica on Wednesday. The town of Mandeville was destroyed and the main road through the town was filled with debris.

Everything was stuck to the leaves and bits of construction material were scattered along the road. The cleanup process is expected to take months.

Pia Chevallier, who was on holiday in Jamaica, said she felt “sick with anxiety” after the storm hit overnight. “The windows didn’t stop vibrating.”

According to information provided by local officials to the AFP news agency, at least 20 people, including 10 children, died in river floods in Haiti.

The island the country shares with the Dominican Republic was hit by flash floods and landslides that forced 3,000 people to take shelter in shelters.

“Many houses on the coast were flooded,” said Pascal Bimenyimana of the Christian NGO World Relief in Port au Prince. He also said that the roofs of the buildings were missing and people were cleaning the debris with their bare hands.

Torrential winds, heavy rain and flooding destroyed crops in the south of the country.

The United States is sending a disaster response team to Jamaica to assess the extent of need in the aftermath of the hurricane. Official requests for assistance came from Haiti and the Bahamas, according to senior State Department officials.

The aid comes after the Trump administration shut down the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the world’s largest aid agency, amid multibillion-dollar cuts in foreign aid.

Melissa is not expected to reach North America, but will still be a formidable extratropical cyclone when it approaches St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada, on Friday night.