Overview
- After sweeping the Bahamas, the storm moved back over open water, strengthened to Category 2 and is forecast to approach Bermuda, with earlier Bahamian hurricane warnings lifted.
- Authorities report more than 30 deaths across the region, including at least 24 in Haiti and nine in Jamaica, with additional people missing and one fatality confirmed in the Dominican Republic.
- Jamaica faces extensive destruction to homes and critical infrastructure, with Black River reporting damage to over 90 percent of houses and major power outages alongside impaired roads, bridges and public facilities.
- Cuba evacuated over 735,000 people before landfall and reports severe flooding and widespread agricultural losses but no confirmed deaths, while the Bahamas flew about 1,500 residents out of high-risk islands.
- A rapid analysis by Imperial College London finds human-driven warming made a storm like Melissa about four times more likely and increased its winds by roughly 7 percent, as early private estimates put total losses at $48–52 billion.