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Death Toll From Hurricane Melissa Rises to 50 as Storm Heads Toward Bermuda

Officials now prioritize access and relief in devastated Jamaican communities after the Category 5 landfall.

Overview

  • Forecasters said the system regained strength over the Atlantic and was expected to pass near Bermuda as a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds around 165 km/h.
  • Authorities reported at least 50 fatalities across the region, including 19 in Jamaica, about 30 in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic, with figures still provisional.
  • Jamaica detailed extensive damage, with more than 130 roads blocked, up to 90% of roofs damaged in Black River and airports reopening to support relief flights.
  • Cuba reported heavy flooding and infrastructure damage but no confirmed deaths after evacuating more than 735,000 people, while the Bahamas airlifted roughly 1,500 residents from six islands.
  • The United States deployed disaster-response teams in coordination with the UN and NGOs, and an Imperial College London analysis found human-driven warming made a storm like Melissa roughly four times more likely and increased wind speed by about seven percent.