Hurricane Melissa Death Toll Nears 50, Mostly In Jamaica And Haiti, As It Rushes Towards Bermuda

Explosions of large machines, white chainsaws and deforestation have been included in communities across the northern carisbean as the devastation left behind explodes.

The storm was blamed for at least 45 deaths, mostly in Haiti and Jamaica. It also hit Cuba Hard.

Melissa was over the open waters of the Atlantic the race is headed towards Bermuda As of Friday, it is packing maximum winds of 90 mph, United States Air Force One said. A storm warning was in effect across Britain’s affluent region.

But the agency said, “Gradually weakening is expected over the next few days, and Melissa is expected to become a post-tropical low tonight.”

In Jamaica, government workers and citizens began to clear roads for the group to reach several communities in the southeast of the Island directly supporting One of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record.

Suspended residents wandered around, some staring at their homes with no passes and watery belongings staring at them.

“I don’t have a house now,” said Sylvester Guthrie, who lives in Lacovia in the Southern Parish of St Ellizabeth, as he grabbed his bicycle, the only thing he had left after the storm.

Emergency aid planes were arriving at major international airports as teams distributed water, medicine and other basic supplies. Hlatilophe threw food on the ground as they threw it over the communities where the storm burned houses, wiped out roads and destroyed bridges, cutting off aid.

“All of Jamaica was really broken because of what happened,” said Education Minister Dana Morris Dixon.

Authorities said at least 19 people had died in Jamaica, including a child, and expected the death toll to rise. In one community, residents urged officials to remove the body of one victim stuffed in a tree. On Thursday, dozens of US search experts and assistants arrived in Jamaica along with their dogs.

More than 13,000 people remain in shelters, with 72% of the island without power and only 35% of mobile phone sites are working, officials said. People are touching money as long lines form at several gas stations and supermarkets are open in the affected areas.

“We understand the frustration, we understand your concern, but we ask for your patience,” said Daryl Vazi, Jamaica’s liaison and Minister of Energy.

Water trucks have been assembled to serve many rural communities in Jamaica that are not connected to the government’s utility system, said Water Minister Matthew SAMUDA.

There is nothing wrong with dying but Cuba is far from saved

In Cuba, heavy machinery began to clear blocked roads and highways and the military helped rescue people trapped in isolated and endangered communities from the country.

No deaths were recorded after the Civil Defense evacuated more than 735,000 people across eastern Cuba ahead of the storm. Residents were starting to return home on Thursday.

The village of El Cobre in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba was one of the hardest hit. Home to about 7,000 people, it is also the site of the basilica of Our Lady of Mercy, the Cuban Saint who is deeply revered by Catholics and practitioners of Santería, an Afro-Cuban religion.

“We went through the worst. So much wind, so high wind. The zinc houses were completely demolished. It was a total disaster from the living room where the roof and other parts of the house were blown off.

Even the basilica was hit.

“Here in the sanctuary, sculpting, stained glass, even Masonry was seriously damaged,” said Father Rogelio Deenda Puerta.

The TeleVIDE OPEN DEFENSE meeting proposed by President Miguel Díaz-Canel did not provide an official estimate of the damage. However, the officials from the affected provinces – Santiago, Granma, Holguín, Guantánamo, and Las Tunas – also crushed roads, and severe loss of bananas, and loss of coffee.

Many communities were without electricity, Internet and phone service due to downed transformers and power lines.

In a rare statement Thursday, the US State Department said the United States is “ready to help the Cuban people.” It said the US is “prepared to provide the most humanitarian aid directly and through local partners who can effectively deliver to those in need.”

The statement does not say how the cooperation will be coordinated or that they are in contact with the Cuban Government, where it ends a bitter dispute that includes sixties in colds and finances.

Haiti Reeling

Melissa also traveled through the catastrophic floods in Haiti, where at least 30 people were said to have been killed and another 20 missing, mostly in the Southern province of the country. About 15,000 people are also living in shelters.

“It is a sad time for the country,” said Laurent Saint-Cyr, President of Haiti’s Transitional Council.

He said officials expect the death toll to rise and noted that the government is mobilizing resources to search for people and provide emergency assistance.

Haiti’s Fivil Protect agency said Hurricane Melissa killed at least 20 people, including 10 children, in Petit-GOââve, where more than 160 homes were destroyed.

Steven Guadard said Melissa killed her entire family in Petit-Goâve, including four children between the ages of 1 and 8.

Michet Dhégange, who lived in Petit-Goâave for three years, said Melissa left him homeless.

“There is no place to rest the body; we are hungry,” he said. “The authorities don’t think about us. I haven’t closed my eyes since the bad weather started.”

When Melissa came ashore in Jamaica as a Category 5 hurricane with maximum winds of 185 mph (295 kph) on Tuesday, she tied records for Atlantic hurricane rights and barometric pressure.

Melissa was a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 105 mph (165 kph) Thursday night and moving northeast at 32 mph (51 kph), according to the US National Hurricane Center in Miami. The storm was centered about 260 miles (420 km) west-southwest of Bermuda.

Melissa brushed past the Southeast Bahamas on Wednesday, forcing officials to evacuate 1,100 people ahead of the storm.