Overview
- Officials say Hurricane Melissa ripped roofs off 120,000 structures in Jamaica, left roughly half the island without power, and kept 27 communities cut off.
- More than 180 shelters remain open with 2,487 people inside as crews work to clear roads and restore water and telecommunications.
- Confirmed deaths stand at 32 in Jamaica and 43 in Haiti, with 13 people still missing there, as rescue teams reach previously inaccessible areas.
- Prime Minister Andrew Holness put Jamaica’s preliminary damages at about $6 billion, while AccuWeather estimates $48–$52 billion in losses across the Caribbean.
- Relief operations are expanding with the U.S. Disaster Assistance Response Team, urban search-and-rescue units and UN partners, and new research finds climate change increased peak winds by about 11 mph and extreme rainfall by 16 percent.