Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba take stock after Hurricane Melissa destruction

As dozens of deaths are reported in Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti, people all over the northern Caribbean are in shock as a result of Hurricane Melissa’s destruction.

At least 25 people died in Haiti, eight in Jamaica, and one in the Dominican Republic as a result of the hurricane, which was the strongest ever to strike Jamaica directly on record.

Early on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center in the United States announced that Melissa’s eye was likely to move away from the southeast and central Bahamas before moving westward.

The storm was downgraded to Category 1, the lowest level of Saffir-Simpson, but it was still robbing 155 km/h (100 mph) and registering even higher gusts, according to the NHC.

Families in Haiti struggled with the rising death toll, with about 12, 000 people still in temporary shelters. In Petit-Goave, a coastal town in southern France, where dozens of homes were destroyed by a river’s banks, twenty people were reported dead.

A one-month-old baby, a seven-year-old, an eight-year-old, and a fourth-year-old who was about to turn four were the words of resident Steven Guadard, who told The Associated Press news agency.

More than 735, 000 evacuated residents slowly returned home as a result of the military’s assistance in rescuing residents from remote communities, despite there being no fatalities in Cuba.

In Jamaica’s western parishes, Melissa swept through homes and destroyed trees, flooded hospitals, and shut off electricity and water.

Residents pleaded for assistance even as Prime Minister Andrew Holness proclaimed a “credible and strong” recovery strategy.

Sylvester Guthrie, a resident of St. Elizabeth’s severely hit parish, was left with only his bicycle.

Guthrie told the AP, “I don’t have a house right now.” He said, “I am going to need help, even though he has land in another place.”

“Ground zero”

Emergency relief flights bringing supplies, food, and other supplies to Norman Manley International Airport after it reopened late on Wednesday did not cross over Jamaica’s capital, Kingston, preventing them from landing there.

The Jamaica Public Service utility began a damage assessment as the prime minister inspected the damage while the island’s 2.8 million residents were still without electricity. They were advised to “at all costs” to avoid downed power lines.

Parishes on the island’s west, including St. James and St. Elizabeth, experienced landslides, powerful winds, and torrential floodwaters.

In the historic port city of Black River, the hurricane levelled homes, destroyed old buildings, andflooded medical facilities, destroying the “entire infrastructure,” according to Holness in a video update from the town.

Heavy construction equipment scurried northward to clear blockages and push down felled trees in St. James Parish’s mud-soaked streets. Dazed residents were seen evading the damage on video footage.