Jamaica rushes to assess damage
Jamaican officials reported complications in assessing damage due to the outages, noting “a complete communications blackout” in some areas, Richard Thompson, acting director general of Jamaica’s Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, told Nationwide News Network.
“It will not be an easy road, Jamaica,” said Desmond McKenzie, vice-president of the Jamaica Disaster Risk Management Council.
At least one death was reported in western Jamaica when a tree fell on a baby, Minister of State Abka Fitz-Henley told Nationwide News Network.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness plans to fly over the worst-affected areas, where crews were still trying to access the areas and determine the extent of the damage, Dixon said.
Nearby, David Muschette, 84, sat in the rubble of his roofless home. He said he lost everything as he pointed to his wet clothes and furniture scattered on the grass outside while a part of his roof partially blocked the path.
“I need help,” he pleaded.
The government said it hopes to reopen all Jamaica airports on Thursday to ensure rapid distribution of emergency relief supplies.
The United States is sending rescue and response teams to assist recovery efforts in the Caribbean, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday. He said government officials were coordinating with leaders in Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.
Cuba weathers the storm
People in Cuba’s eastern province of Santiago de Cuba began clearing debris around the collapsed walls of their homes after Hurricane Melissa made landfall in the region hours earlier.
Children travel on a bus evacuating people before the arrival of Hurricane Melissa in Canizo, a community in Santiago de Cuba.Credit: AP
“Life is what matters,” said Alexis Ramos, a 54-year-old fisherman as he surveyed his destroyed home and protected himself from the intermittent rain with a yellow raincoat. “Repairing this costs money, a lot of money.”
Meanwhile, local media showed images of the Juan Bruno Zayas Clinical Hospital with severe damage: glass scattered across the floor, waiting rooms in ruins, and masonry walls collapsed to the ground.
In Cuba, parts of the province of Granma, especially the municipal capital, Jiguaní, remained under water, said Governor Yanetsy Terry Gutiérrez. More than 40 centimeters of rain were reported in the Charco Redondo settlement of Jiguaní.
Charging
The hurricane could worsen Cuba’s severe economic crisis, which has already caused prolonged blackouts as well as fuel and food shortages.
“There will be a lot of work to do. We know there will be a lot of damage,” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said in a televised speech, urging the population not to underestimate Melissa’s power.
On Wednesday afternoon, Melissa had maximum sustained winds of 155 km/h and was moving northeast at 22 km/h, according to the US National Hurricane Center in Miami. The hurricane was centered about 245 kilometers south of the central Bahamas.
Michael Brennan, director of the National Hurricane Center, said the storm began affecting the southeastern Bahamas on Wednesday.
“The storm is growing in size,” he said, noting that tropical storm-force winds now extend nearly 200 miles from the center.
The center of Melissa is forecast to move across the southeastern Bahamas later Wednesday, generating up to 2 meters of storm surge in the area. Melissa is expected to pass just west of Bermuda on Thursday night.
Before making landfall, Melissa had already been blamed for three deaths in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic.
AP
