Cuba in chaos as Hurricane Melissa strikes island while Trump mobilizes aid for devastating Jamaica aftermath: Live updates

The U.S. State Department announced that it has established a regional Disaster Assistance Response Team and activated U.S.-based Urban Search and Rescue teams to support response efforts.

“These teams are working with affected countries and local communities to determine what assistance is needed and with interagency, international and U.S. military partners to coordinate emergency response efforts,” the department said.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as he wrapped up his visit to Asia, Donald Trump said he was ready to offer aid to Jamaica once clean-up efforts begin and the monumental rebuilding task begins.

‘We have to do this from a humanitarian perspective, so we are monitoring the issue closely,’ he said.

‘We are ready to move. ‘He’s doing a lot of damage as we speak.’

Trump also marveled at the strength of the storm. It was a Category 5 when it crashed in Jamaica; The worst situation the island has ever seen.

‘I’ve never seen this before. “I think it might be that high, but I’ve never seen it,” he said.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness told the nation that Melissa remains a threat across the island today.

In his latest bulletin, Mr Holness said ‘intense rain bands associated with Melissa’ were still passing over Jamaica and this could result in Tropical Storm conditions.

In his update, he said ‘ongoing catastrophic flash flooding’, ‘numerous landslides and ‘large and destructive waves’ would continue today and into tonight.

Although damaging winds are gradually decreasing in Jamaica, Tropical Storm force wind conditions will persist in northern areas, while strong winds reaching storm force may still occur at times in some southern areas.

According to the Cuban government, Hurricane Melissa is causing river levels to rise and killing approximately 140,000 people.

‘A total of 241 communities, home to more than 140,000 people, have been reported disconnected,’ the government said in a statement. CNN.

According to the news, roads are closed in Contramaestre, north of where Melissa made landfall, while communities in Guaninao and Ruta Martina are isolated.

The National Hurricane Center has warned that although Jamaica has lifted its tropical storm warning, the island could still see the effects of the weather.

‘Melissa is expected to bring an additional 3 to 6 inches across Jamaica, where storm totals will be between 12 and 24 inches,’ the center said.

‘Isolated areas of close to 30 inches will be possible in mountainous terrain. ‘Ongoing devastating flooding and numerous landslides will continue today and into tonight.’

Additionally, the center said waves caused by Melissa will continue to impact parts of Hispaniola, Jamaica, eastern Cuba and the Cayman Islands throughout the next day, causing life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.

Hurricane Melissa has now become a Category 2 storm, according to the National Hurricane Center’s 8 a.m. ET update.

Hurricane categories range from 1 to 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale and are ranked by sustained wind speeds.

Melissa’s maximum sustained wind speed is 105mph, which puts it in category 2, ranging from 96-180mph.

Images from the eye of Hurricane Melissa have emerged after a specially adapted plane by US Air Force hurricane hunters flew into the center of the storm.

Hurricane Melissa was the strongest hurricane to hit Jamaica in the island’s modern history.

The storm’s 185 mph (295 kph) winds and central pressure of 892 millibars tied two records as the strongest Atlantic storm as it approached landfall.

Hurricane scientists Phil Klotzbach of Colorado State University and Brian McNoldy of the University of Miami said pressure, the key measurement used by meteorologists, correlates with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane in Florida, and wind speed correlates with the 1935 hurricane and 2019’s Hurricane Dorian.

Jamaica’s top police officer is joining rescue efforts this morning as the country wakes up to the extent of damage caused by Hurricane Melissa.

Jamaica Police Service Commissioner Dr. Kevin Blake was spotted clearing trees at police headquarters in Kingston.

Police Commissioner Dr. Kevin Blake leads from the front and helps clear downed trees from the driveway here at Headquarters. The commissioner will examine first-hand the damage caused and help chart the way forward.

This comes as Jamaican authorities assess the extent of damage caused by Melissa, the strongest hurricane to hit the island.

Jamaican officials have confirmed that at least one person died as Hurricane Melissa wreaked havoc on the island.

Senator Abka Fitz-Henley, the minister of state in the prime minister’s office, told local radio station Nationwide News Network that a tree had fallen on a baby, causing the baby’s death.

Most of the destruction was concentrated in the southwestern and northwestern regions of Jamaica, Fitz-Henley said, according to the Associated Press.

‘Take heart. “It could have been worse,” he said. ‘I know people have suffered serious devastation.’

‘We are aware of the difficult situation you found yourself in this morning. ‘We’re moving quickly.’

Hurricane Melissa death toll rises to eight; Four people died in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic.

TikTok user Jourdain, who goes by the username @travelwithjourdain, has been documenting his time at the Shoes Resort on Jamaica’s South Shore as Hurricane Melissa made landfall as a Category 5 storm.

As the storm moved towards the island, many people criticized him for traveling to Jamaica in the first place and his posts were met with backlash.

Jamaica was declared a ‘disaster area’ after Hurricane Melissa damaged the island.

Entire towns were flooded and tens of thousands of tourists were stranded after Melissa, the strongest storm in the Caribbean’s modern history, devastated the country yesterday.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the island was a “disaster zone” as he sought to “prevent any exploitation at a time when citizens are getting food, water and supplies” amid the tragedy.

The hurricane, which had top sustained winds of 185 mph at its second landfall, is now expected to move northeastward, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Melissa will hit the southeastern or central Bahamas on Wednesday as a strong Category 2 storm, bringing dangerous storm surge and strong thunderstorms.

Up to 10 inches of rain could fall in the Bahamas, and forecasters warn it could trigger flash floods and landslides.

By Wednesday evening, Melissa is expected to move northeastward, accelerating over the open Atlantic Ocean and hitting Bermuda as a Category 1 hurricane on Thursday.

Pope Leo offered his thoughts and prayers for those affected by Hurricane Melissa.

‘Recently, Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica; A storm of destructive force that causes severe flooding. At this very hour it passes Cuba with devastating force. “Thousands of people were displaced and homes, infrastructure and many hospitals were damaged,” he said.

I express my closeness to everyone by praying for those who lost their lives, those who fled, and the communities who experienced hours of anxiety and anxiety as they waited for the storm to develop. I call on civil authorities to do everything possible. ‘I thank Christian communities and voluntary organizations for the assistance they provide.’

Hurricane Melissa was heading towards Cuba on Wednesday.

Authorities in Cuba have evacuated more than 735,000 people, President Miguel Díaz-Canel said.

Forecasters warned that the storm would cause major damage in the country’s second largest city, Santiago de Cuba, and nearby areas.

Hurricane Melissa hit Cuba early Wednesday after wreaking havoc in Jamaica, where 25,000 tourists were stranded and entire towns were flooded.

The ‘storm of the century’ may take days or even weeks to recover in the hardest-hit areas of Jamaica; Landslides, downed trees and power lines make it difficult for rescue teams to reach some flood-damaged areas.

Meanwhile, in Cuba, some 735,000 residents heeded warnings from the country’s president and emergency responders and fled their coastal and mountainous homes out of the storm’s path ahead of its arrival Wednesday.