Hurricane Melissa hits Cuba after turning Jamaica into ‘disaster area’ | Hurricane Melissa

Hurricane Melissa wreaked havoc across the Caribbean, slamming into Cuba and leaving parts of neighboring Jamaica devastated by high winds and heavy rainfall.

The effects of the massive hurricane were felt throughout the region, even in countries not directly in its path. In nearby Haiti, residents of a small town were mourning the deaths of 25 people swept away by floods.

Melissa, the most intense tropical cyclone to hit Jamaica in nearly two centuries, is one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes observed since records began. Climate scientists say human-caused global warming is contributing to the rapid intensification of today’s storms.

Many Jamaicans woke up Wednesday without power and to reports that entire neighborhoods were flooded. Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared the country a disaster area, giving authorities extra powers such as issuing mandatory evacuation orders for flooded areas and preventing price gouging.

Major damage was reported across the island; most of these happened in the westernmost parts, where the category 5 cyclonic storm moved diagonally across the ground at a slow speed, ripping roofs off buildings and flipping cars over. The photographs showed a tree with its roots uprooted from the ground and roads buried under gravel and soil.

Jamaica’s Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie said the hurricane was “one of the worst experiences ever.” [Jamaica] I have ever encountered.”

“Our infrastructure has been seriously compromised,” he said. “All [Island of] Jamaica felt Melissa’s burden. In the country of 2.8 million people, nearly 15 thousand people live in shelters and more than 530 thousand live without electricity.

In Mandeville, the capital and largest town in the Greater Manchester region, residents were grateful that they were not as badly affected as other parts of the island, even though serious damage was visible.

The streets of the city were filled with debris left behind by the hurricane; Fallen trees blocked roads, roofs of some houses were torn off and power lines were downed.

Local resident Jack Gardner, 43, said the tornado was “very deadly” but his home was still in working order.

“I wasn’t afraid,” he said. “I’m used to storms.” Gardner said that during his childhood he experienced storm Gilbert in 1988, storm Ivan in 2004 and storm Beryl, which hit Jamaica last year. Storms are named only when they are expected to have a serious impact.

Lisa Henry, another Mandeville resident, also said she wasn’t afraid. “I was mostly praying,” the 35-year-old actor said. “I just got through school, Manchester High and the top level. [had been] “It was torn apart,” he said. “Yes, he will take the country back.”

Henry works as a caregiver for an elderly woman, but said the woman “wasn’t really aware of what was going on.”

The Jamaican government was still assessing the extent of the damage on Wednesday, but the UN’s resident coordinator in the country said there was “enormous, unprecedented devastation”.

“We have people living in shelters across the country, and what we’re seeing now in preliminary assessments is a country that’s devastated at levels that have never been seen before,” Dennis Zulu said at a news conference.

Alexander Pendry, global response manager for the British Red Cross, also said early signs showed Melissa was “an unprecedented disaster for the island”.

He said the Jamaica Red Cross’s priority is to get help to people as quickly as possible. “Tragically, experience tells us that the impact on communities and individuals will be devastating and long-lasting,” he added.

Jamaican Transport Minister Daryl Vaz said authorities were rushing to ensure airports could reopen once it became safe and practical to bring aid into the country. During his visit to Norman Manley international airport in the capital Kingston, the minister said that he aimed for aid flights to land as early as Thursday.

“This devastation is unimaginable,” he said. “Every hour is an hour lost, and we don’t have time for that.”

Although not directly affected by the hurricane, other Caribbean countries were affected. Authorities in Haiti said 25 people died in the floods. The La Digue River in the coastal town of Petit-Goâve overflowed its banks, submerging homes and carrying away adults and children.

Petit-Goâve mayor Jean Bertrand Subrème said dozens of houses were destroyed and people were still trapped. “I am overwhelmed by the situation,” he added, as he pleaded with the government to help rescue the victims.

Four people were reported missing in Jamaica and one in the Dominican Republic.

A Category 5 hurricane is the highest hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with sustained winds exceeding 150 mph, but the U.S. National Hurricane Center reported that Melissa carried sustained wind speeds of 298 mph when it hit Jamaica.

Even after losing some strength and being downgraded to a category 3 storm, Melissa could still be disastrous for Cuba.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said on Wednesday that Melissa had caused “massive damage” after making landfall on the island nation’s southern coast overnight.

“The early morning hours were very difficult,” Díaz-Canel said on social media. “Major damage and Hurricane Melissa is still on Cuban territory. I urge our people not to lower their guard, maintain discipline and stay safely sheltered.”

More than 735,000 people were evacuated from their homes after forecasters warned that a low-pressure system would cause catastrophic damage in Santiago de Cuba, the island’s second largest city. The windows of a large hotel in the city were broken and its roof collapsed.

Melissa is expected to pass the island in the morning and move into the Bahamas later Wednesday. It is currently a Category 2 hurricane, but remains extremely dangerous; Winds of 100 miles per hour can cause serious damage even to well-constructed frame homes and cause nationwide power outages.

Climate scientists said the intensification of Hurricane Melissa — with winds doubling from 70 mph to 140 mph in just one day — was likely a symptom of the rapid warming of the world’s oceans that is part of the human-caused climate crisis.

Many Caribbean leaders have called on wealthy, heavily polluting governments to provide compensation to tropical island nations in the form of aid or debt relief.

Associated Press and France-Presse Agency contributed to this report