This week, Hurricane Melissa has left dozens dead and widespread destruction across Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba. According to the Associated Press, by Wednesday, roofless homes, fallen utility poles and water-logged furniture dominated the landscapes.
Hurricane Melissa made landfall Tuesday (October 28) in Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm with top winds of 185 mph. It was one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, before weakening and moving on to Cuba. But even countries outside the direct path of the huge storm felt its devastating effects. Before landfall, Melissa had already been blamed for three deaths in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic.
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Hurricane Melissa Causes Destruction In Jamaica
Jamaica got hit hard by the hurricane causing a landslide and reducing the streets to mud pits. Residents swept water from homes as they tried to save their belongings.
“I never see anything like this before in all my years living here,” resident Jennifer Small said.
Winds ripped off part of the roof at a high school, a designated public shelter. Still, more than 25,000 people were packed into other shelters on Wednesday. More streamed in throughout the day after the storm ripped roofs off their homes and left them temporarily homeless. At least one death was reported in the Jamaica’s west when a tree fell on a baby, state minister Abka Fitz-Henley said.
Dana Morris Dixon, Jamaica’s education minister, said that 77% of the island was without power Wednesday. Additionally, Jamaican officials reported complications in assessing the damage because of outages. Richard Thompson, acting director general of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, told the Nationwide News Network that there was “a total communication blackout” in areas.
The government said it hopes to reopen all of Jamaica’s airports as early as Thursday. It hopes that will ensure quick distribution of emergency relief supplies.
25 People Pass Away In Haiti From Severe Flooding
In Haiti, flooding from Hurricane Melissa killed at least 25 people in the southern coastal town of Petit-Goâve, its mayor told AP. Mayor Jean Bertrand Subrème said dozens of homes collapsed when La Digue river burst its banks.
As of Wednesday morning, people were still trapped under rubble. Only one official from Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency was in the area as residents struggled to evacuate amid heavy floodwaters.
Hospital & Houses Suffer Damages In Cuba
Hurricane Melissa could worsen Cuba’s severe economic crisis, which already has led to prolonged power blackouts, along with fuel and food shortages.
