Overview
- Melissa has weakened to roughly 105 mph and is accelerating northeast, with the National Hurricane Center expecting a pass northwest of Bermuda later Thursday and officials closing Bermuda’s causeway overnight.
- Authorities report more than 30 deaths across the region, including at least 25 in Haiti and several in Jamaica, with tolls expected to change as access improves and assessments continue.
- In Jamaica, power outages affected roughly 70%–77% of customers, the government issued an all‑clear for recovery, shelters housed over 25,000 people, and relief flights resumed as the main airport reopened.
- Cuba reported extensive infrastructure and agricultural damage after a Category 3 landfall, but no fatalities as of Thursday, following a state-led evacuation of about 735,000 people and reports of hundreds of isolated communities.
- Preliminary loss estimates range from about $8 billion (Bloomberg) to $22 billion (AccuWeather), and reconnaissance data point to exceptional intensity, including a reported 893 mb pressure and a 252 mph dropsonde gust pending verification.