Death toll from Hurricane Melissa climbs to 49, with many still missing

Haiti reported the highest number of deaths following catastrophic flooding from hurricane rains.

Hurricane Melissa has now killed some 49 people, although that figure is expected to rise as search and rescue operations continue across the trail of destruction the storm left in its wake in the northern Caribbean.

Authorities in Haiti on Thursday reported at least 30 deaths and 20 missing. The impoverished nation was not directly hit but suffered days of torrential rains from the lumbering storm. Jamaica has reported 19 deaths, according to the Reuters news agency. The Dominican Republic has reported one death before the hurricane made landfall elsewhere.

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Melissa, one of the strongest Atlantic storms on record, made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday as a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of up to 295 kilometres per hour (183 miles per hour). The hurricane did not hit the capital of Kingston, but it slammed into Jamaica’s western side, where it wrought “devastation”, according to government officials.

Melissa later struck Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane before continuing on a path past the Bahamas on Wednesday night. It is due to pass within 60km (37 miles) of Bermuda, according to the US National Hurricane Center.

The storm’s force has been felt across the Caribbean, bringing destructive winds, rain, and flooding even as its strength has steadily declined over the past week.

Although Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which share the island of Hispaniola, did not sustain a direct hit, they both experienced heavy flooding, according to local reports.

No deaths have been reported yet in Cuba, although the eastern half of the island was heavily battered by strong winds, according to Reuters.

Hundreds of thousands of people remain without power across the Caribbean, including 70 percent of Jamaica’s electricity customers, the newswire said.

Regional authorities are working to clean up downed trees and power lines and assess widespread infrastructure damage.

UN agencies say they are still calculating the damage from Melissa, although preliminary assessments for Jamaica indicate a level of devastation “never seen before” by the island, according to UN Resident Coordinator Dennis Zulu.

The US State Department announced on Thursday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has deployed the US Disaster Assistance Response Team to assist Jamaica, Haiti, the Bahamas, and Cuba.

Expert analysis by US weather forecaster AccuWeather estimated that “preliminary damage and economic loss” from Melissa could range from $48-52bn.