Overview
- The National Hurricane Center declared Melissa post-tropical on Friday as the system weakened over the North Atlantic after passing west of Bermuda.
- Officials report at least 50 fatalities across the Caribbean, including 19 confirmed in Jamaica with more expected, and about 30 in Haiti where flooding in Petit-Goâve killed multiple children and left others missing.
- Large swaths of Jamaica remain cut off with power and communications down, including 462,000 utility customers without electricity and extensive destruction in Black River described by aid officials as catastrophic.
- Cargo relief flights began arriving in Kingston with more scheduled, and U.S. medical evacuation helicopters and international NGOs are mobilizing to deliver food, water, shelter and medical support.
- Preliminary estimates place damage and economic losses at $48–$52 billion, a rapid analysis links unusually warm seas to stronger winds, and a reported 252 mph dropsonde gust from NOAA is under review.