Overview
- At least 34 deaths have been reported across the region, including about 25 in Haiti, at least eight in Jamaica and one in the Dominican Republic.
- Jamaica reports sweeping damage with roughly three-quarters of the island still without power and more than 25,000 people in shelters as recovery begins.
- The storm struck eastern Cuba as a Category 3, triggering evacuations of about 735,000 people and leaving more than 240 communities cut off; no fatalities were reported there.
- The Bahamas carried out a major airlift of nearly 1,500 residents before the storm, which the National Hurricane Center expects to pass northwest of Bermuda before weakening further.
- Melissa peaked at 185 mph over unusually warm waters and moved very slowly, a combination experts say intensified the damage as aid mobilizes from the US, UK, UN and Red Cross.