Overview
- Emergency teams are clearing debris and reopening routes to isolated Jamaican communities where assessments are still incomplete.
- The World Meteorological Organization labeled the impact on Jamaica catastrophic, calling Melissa the country’s “storm of the century.”
- Melissa exploded from a 70 mph tropical storm to a 185 mph Category 5, tying the second-strongest sustained winds recorded in the Atlantic.
- Cuba evacuated more than 735,000 people and the Bahamas moved about 1,485 residents before flights were suspended.
- Aid from the United Kingdom, Canada, and Venezuela is arriving as eyewitnesses describe missing residents, makeshift infirmaries, and heavy crop losses.