SANTIAGO DE CUBA: People across the northern Caribbean were digging out from the destruction of Hurricane Melissa on Thursday as deaths from the catastrophic storm climbed. The rumble of large machinery, whine of chainsaws and chopping of machetes echoed throughout southeast Jamaica as government workers and residents began clearing roads in a push to reach isolated communities that sustained a direct hit from one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record. Stunned residents wandered about, some staring at their roofless homes and waterlogged belongings strewn around them.

Jamaicans urged to seek shelter immediately, and Cuba, Haiti and Dominican Republic also threatened

At least three people are dead in Jamaica as Hurricane Melissa, the world's strongest storm so far this year, bears down on the Caribbean island nation, officials said.