Oct. 31 (UPI) -- The death toll from Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean stood at 40 early Friday, with at least 19 killed in Jamaica which took the brunt of the Category 5 storm packing winds of 185 mph and extreme rainfall.
Casualty numbers were likely to rise as authorities take stock and regain access to areas cut off by flooding or damage to roads and bridges.
Melissa was expected to pass close to Bermuda imminently, injecting extra moisture and heat into a separate, fast moving storm heading westerly in from the Atlantic toward New England, causing heavy rain, severe thunderstorms and squalls along the mid-Atlantic seaboard.
The main hurricane, now Category 2 -- still with very high wind speeds and moving at a much accelerated 21 mph -- may make one last port of call in or on Newfoundland late Friday, or first thing Saturday.
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