Hurricane Melissa Weakens on Approach to Bermuda After Deadly Caribbean Sweep

Overview

• Melissa is forecast to pass northwest of Bermuda tonight as a Category 2 storm with winds near 165 km/h, then weaken on Friday, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
• Bahamas officials evacuated nearly 1,500 people and urged residents to shelter as the storm brought dangerous winds and heavy rain, with some hurricane alerts later scaled back in parts of the archipelago.
• Authorities in Haiti report at least 25 deaths, including 10 children, with dozens missing, more than 1,000 homes flooded and nearly 12,000 people in emergency shelters.
• Cuba reports extensive infrastructure damage with only 37% of the electrical grid operating, major thermal plants offline and roughly 735,000 people evacuated, while many eastern communities remain cut off.
• Jamaica, declared a disaster zone, was hit by sustained winds near 300 km/h in the strongest direct strike in about 90 years, with airports restarting limited operations and early loss estimates reaching up to $8 billion.