Hurricane Melissa Death Toll Rises to About 49 as System Tracks Toward Bermuda

Overview

• At midnight Friday, the storm was a Category 2 with sustained winds near 161–165 km/h, projected to pass northwest of Bermuda after the Bahamas lifted hurricane alerts.
• Officials report at least 30 deaths in Haiti, including 10 children, and 19 in Jamaica, with search and rescue operations still underway.
• Cuba reports widespread damage, major power plant shutdowns with only 37% of the grid active, and roughly 735,000 people evacuated, while authorities had not confirmed fatalities there by Thursday.
• Preliminary assessments point to about US$8 billion in losses in Jamaica, while AccuWeather estimates US$48–52 billion in damages and economic losses across the western Caribbean.
• International assistance is mobilizing, including U.S. search-and-rescue teams for Jamaica and an offer of humanitarian aid to Cuba, UK emergency funding and repatriation flights, Venezuelan relief shipments, Salvadoran airlifts, and UNICEF support for hundreds of thousands of affected children.