Communities across the Caribbean on Nov. 1 were continuing to pick up the pieces left by the devastating and deadly former Hurricane Melissa, which walloped Jamaica as one of the strongest hurricanes to make landfall in Atlantic history and brought catastrophic flooding to several islands in the region.
Melissa made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane with winds of 185 mph in Jamaica on Oct. 28. It was the most powerful hurricane to ever strike the island nation, bringing torrential rains and damaging winds, which left hundreds of thousands without power, destroyed homes and scattered fields with debris. It next made landfall in Cuba as a Category 3 storm before going through the Bahamas and passing near Bermuda.
More than 50 deaths have been reported due to the storm in Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, including deaths in areas where Melissa did not strike directly but saw severe flooding from the slow-moving storm. That number could go up as authorities reach cut-off communities and confirm death reports.
"Every single life lost is a huge tragedy," said Dana Morris Dixon, Jamaican minister of education, skills, youth and information, at a news conference on Oct. 31. "We have never had a Category 5 hurricane in our country. The devastation in the west is unimaginable."
