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Recovery efforts are underway after Hurricane Melissa left a path of devastation in the Caribbean this week.
The United Nations said the damage in Jamaica, where the storm made landfall on Tuesday (October 28) as a Category 5 hurricane, was on a level "never seen before." Cuba is also reported to be calculating cost of damages after homes collapsed and blocked roads, with an estimated 735,000 people reported to be in shelters and the full extent of damage undetermined.
At least 31 people have died in relation to Hurricane Melissa's devastation across several countries. At least 25 people died and several remain trapped in homes in Petit-Goáve, Haiti, after a river was flooded by the powerful storm, Mayor Jean Bertrans Subrème told the Associated Press.
“I am overwhelmed by the situation,” Subrème said, adding that he’d requested assistance from the government.
At least three other deaths, including two caused by a landslide, were also reported in Haiti in relation to Hurricane Melissa, the Haitian Civil Protection Agency confirmed in a statement. At least one person has died in the Dominican Republic, according to officials, who confirmed more than 1,000 others were evacuated or displaced via CNN.
Melissa made landfall in Cuba Wednesday (October 29) morning as an "extremely dangerous" Category 3, the National Hurricane Center in Miami confirmed via NBC News. The storm previously made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday as a Category 5 at maximum sustained winds of 185 MPH, which tied with the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 and Hurricane Dorian in 2019 in the Caribbean and the second-highest wind speed recorded in the Atlantic, behind only Hurricane Allen in 1980.
Severe flooding was reported as heavy rains and strong winds hit the province, with more than 750,000 residents had evacuated their homes across the country. The storm was downgraded to Category 4 at 4:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday and a Category 3 early Wednesday morning.
Jamaica was reported to have "suffered major impact" after the hurricane made landfall, with at least two or three hospitals suffering severe damage and housing expected to be "severely impacted" in the storm's path, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said via NBC News.