Hurricane Melissa leaves a trail of devastation after tearing through the Caribbean

CNN

By Mitchell McCluskey, CNN Meteorologist Briana Waxman and Karina Tsui

(CNN) — Hurricane Melissa brought devastation and death to the Caribbean as it tore through the region as one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in more than 150 years.

Torrential downpours and forceful winds unleashed widespread destruction along the storm’s path in Jamaica, Cuba and the Bahamas. At least 30 people have died, though the full toll of the catastrophic storm may take days or weeks to be determined.

As the hurricane headed toward Bermuda early Thursday, emergency officials in countries along Melissa’s path have begun to pick up the pieces – clearing roads to reach isolated communities in need of relief.

Andrew Holness, the prime minister of Jamaica, traveled to some of the hardest hit areas of the island nation Wednesday to survey the significant damage caused by punishing winds and widespread flooding.

“Despite the difficulties, the Jamaican spirit shines through as a strong reminder that we are a resilient nation with the capacity to triumph over adversity,” he wrote on social media.

Path of destruction

In the Caribbean, hotter-than-average waters paired with minimally disruptive winds higher in the atmosphere to create the perfect fuel and prime conditions for Melissa to strengthen.

Melissa rapidly intensified, jumping from a 70 mph tropical storm on Saturday morning to a 140 mph Category 4 hurricane Sunday morning.

By Tuesday, Melissa had morphed into a high-end Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph, tying it with with four other hurricanes as the second-strongest storm recorded in the Atlantic since records began in 1851.

As it headed toward Jamaica, where it slammed into the coast as a Category 5 storm on Tuesday, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned it expected the situation to be “catastrophic.”

“For Jamaica, it will be the storm of the century for sure,” WMO tropical cyclone specialist Anne-Claire Fontan said.

Overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, it crossed into eastern Cuba, still a formidable Category 3 hurricane by the time it made landfall in the province of Santiago de Cuba.

By the time it reached the Bahamas on Wednesday, Hurricane Melissa had been downgraded to a Category 1, but its broad wind field continued to drive torrential flooding rain, damaging winds and dangerous storm surge at the coast.

More than 735,000 people were evacuated in Cuba as Melissa approached, according to President Miguel Díaz-Canel, while in the Bahamas, preliminary estimates show 1,485 residents were evacuated before all flights were suspended ahead of the approaching storm.

Evacuation orders were also issued for six islands in the Bahamas.

Other countries, including the Dominican Republic and Haiti, also felt the cataclysmic impacts of Melissa.

Devastation left behind

Across the Caribbean, officials painted a consistent picture of the destruction Melissa left behind.

“The conditions here are devastating. ‘Catastrophic’ is a mild term based on what we are observing here,” Richard Solomon, the mayor of the southwest Jamaican city of Black River, where Hurricane Melissa made landfall, said in a video posted by the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

Around 140,000 people were cut off as the storm pummeled the island, the government has said.

A CNN crew observed residents and military personnel push more than a dozen ambulances past storm debris in the town of Santa Cruz as the medical convoy headed to a coastal area in western Jamaica, which was hit hard.

Jamaica’s government “is not in a position to make an official statement on deaths” that may have been caused by Hurricane Melissa, a government minister said Wednesday.

Authorities in Jamaica have recovered four bodies in the badly hit St. Elizabeth Parish in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, a source in the government told CNN on Wednesday.

Three people also died during storm preparations, but the government has not provided a death toll since the hurricane battered the island on Tuesday.

Holness declared the country a disaster area Tuesday, as he sought to deter price gouging.

“We must… continue to proactively maintain stability, protect consumers, and prevent any exploitation at a time when citizens are securing food, water, and supplies,” Holness said.

Around 77% of the country was left without electricity after Melissa crossed, a spokesperson said. The country’s infrastructure has taken a battering, leaving it “severely compromised,” according to Desmond McKenzie, Jamaica’s minister of local government and community development.

Around 25,000 tourists remained in Jamaica as the country emerged from the storm, Dana Morris Dixon, minister of education, skills, youth and information, said in a statement.

In the already beleaguered country of Haiti, 23 people have died and 13 are missing, the country’s Civil Protection Agency said Wednesday. Twenty of the deaths, including 10 children, happened when a flooded river in Petit-Goâve burst its banks, the agency said, revising an earlier death toll of 25 reported by the mayor.

Steven Guadard, who lives in Petit-Goâve, told the Associated Press the storm killed his entire family.

“I had four children at home: a 1-month-old baby, a 7-year-old, an 8-year-old and another who was about to turn 4,” he said.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Hurricane Melissa had wrought “significant” damage on the island.

“It has been a highly complex night, with significant damage reported,” Díaz-Canel wrote on X. “I urge our people to remain vigilant, to uphold discipline, and to continue taking all necessary precautions.”

Recovery efforts

Several international efforts have already been launched to aid in the recovery efforts.

The United Kingdom said on Wednesday it was deploying £2.5 million ($3.3 million) in emergency humanitarian funding.

China’s ambassador to Cuba shared a video on social media showing hundreds of boxes labeled as “family kit” being transported from a warehouse.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday authorized “an immediate US response” to mobilize support for affected communities in the Caribbean, according to a statement released by the State Department.

Within hours, Secretary of State Marco Rubio “deployed a regional Disaster Assistance Response Team, including urban search-and-rescue teams, to assess needs and provide search and recovery assistance,” the statement read.

“The State Department is collaborating with UN agencies, NGOs, and host governments to deliver food, water, medical supplies, hygiene kits, temporary shelter, and search and rescue support.”

The Jamaican government launched an official website for relief and recovery efforts, where users can access updates on flooding locations or blocked roads and locate shelters.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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CNN’s Derek Van Dam, Devon Sayers, Mary Gilbert, Elise Hammond, Joe Sutton, Avery Schmitz, and Max Saltman contributed to this report.