Hurricane Melissa Leaves Destruction in the Caribbean

By Brooke Bihl

Hurricane Melissa has left dozens dead and widespread destruction after tearing through parts of the Caribbean on Tuesday. Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as a category 5 hurricane with top winds reaching 185 mph, making it one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record. Rescue and cleanup efforts are already underway after the storm ripped through parts of Cuba, Haiti, and the Bahamas, killing a total of 30 people. The storm has damaged homes, caused severe flooding, left widespread power outages, and forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands people. 

Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti are three countries that took the worst damage from Melissa. Nearly 140,000 people in Jamaica are left without power while Cuba is experiencing severe mudslides and infrastructure damage. Meanwhile, the highest death toll so far has been reported in Haiti, where the storm didn’t make direct landfall but caused significant damage, leaving 23 dead. The U.S. is now prepared to offer immediate humanitarian aid to communities affected by the storm, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on social media Thursday. This announcement comes after the State Department deployed rescue and response teams to the area on Wednesday. Melissa has now been reduced to a Category 2 storm as it continues northeast towards Bermuda, where forecasters expect it to significantly weaken.