Hurricane Melissa claims at least 50 lives across Caribbean, leaves widespread destruction

By Asiye Latife Yilmaz

ISTANBUL (AA) - Hurricane Melissa has killed at least 50 people across the Caribbean after striking Jamaica, Haiti, and Cuba, CBS News reported Friday.

The storm left at least 30 fatalities in Haiti, 19 in Jamaica, and two in the Dominican Republic, while also causing severe damage in Cuba, making it one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record.

The US National Hurricane Center reported Friday that Melissa was moving over the open waters of the Atlantic after sweeping past Bermuda early Friday with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph.

“Melissa is expected to become a strong post-tropical cyclone later (Friday) with gradual weakening forecast over the weekend,” the center said.

The hurricane caused severe damage, flooding, and evacuations in parts of the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, and Cuba, with the Turks and Caicos Islands also placed under warnings.

Santiago de Cuba, Cuba's second-largest city, suffered extensive damage, while Jamaica’s southwestern parish of St Elizabeth was left buried in mud and debris.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that the US is prepared to offer immediate humanitarian aid to the people of Cuba in the aftermath of the hurricane.