Rescue efforts continue across the Caribbean after Hurricane Melissa, which hit the region as one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in more than 150 years.
Heavy rain and strong winds have already caused widespread damage along the storm’s path in Jamaica, Cuba and the Bahamas.
Melissa is currently heading toward Bermuda as a Category 2 storm, and although it won’t make landfall, it will quickly bring strong winds and rain as early as late Thursday afternoon.
The storm damaged homes, caused severe flooding and caused widespread power outages, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate.
Several international efforts have also been launched, with emergency authorities beginning to collect pieces and building roads to reach isolated communities in need of relief.
At least 30 people are known to have died, but it could be days or weeks before the total damage caused by the devastating storm is known.
The UK has announced it will provide 2.5 million pounds ($3.36 million) in emergency humanitarian funding to support the Caribbean region’s recovery process. The United States and China also mobilized aid.
The island of Jamaica was hardest hit by Hurricane Melissa, the strongest Category 5 storm, making landfall on Tuesday with maximum sustained winds estimated at 185 miles per hour (295 kilometers per hour).
Authorities have not yet reached the worst-hit areas. Four bodies have been found in St. Elizabeth Parish so far in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, a government official told CNN on Wednesday.
Three people also died while preparing for the storm, but the government has not released the death toll since the hurricane hit the island on Tuesday.
About 25,000 tourists remained in Jamaica as the country recovers from the storm, Education, Skills, Youth and Information Minister Dana Morris-Dixon said in a statement.
According to the government, about 140,000 people were injured as the storm hit the island.
Jamaica’s Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Desmond McKenzie, said the country’s infrastructure overall had suffered and was “at serious risk”.
CNN reporters observed a medical scene in the town of Santa Cruz where residents and military personnel pushed more than a dozen ambulances through storm debris to reach hard-hit coastal areas in western Jamaica.
Cuba also suffered major damage after the hurricane made landfall in the country as a Category 3 storm on Wednesday. According to Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, the country suffered “extreme damage.”
This included flooding, landslides, destruction of goods, and damage to infrastructure, leaving hundreds of rural communities stranded, especially in eastern Cuba. At least 241 communities in Santiago province were cut off by the storm, according to Reuters.
More than 735,000 people were evacuated in Cuba as Melissa approached.
Meanwhile, the highest death toll so far has been reported in Haiti, where although the hurricane did not make landfall, it caused significant damage with severe flooding and landslides, killing at least 23 people. Twenty of these deaths, including 10 children, were caused by the Petit Goave flood, where the overflowing river burst its banks.
Stephen Gadar, a resident of Petit Goave, told The Associated Press that his entire family was killed in the storm.
“There were four children at home: a one-month-old baby, a seven-year-old, an eight-year-old and a baby who was almost four years old,” he said.
CNN’s Mitchell McCluskey, Brianna Waxman and Karina Tsui contributed to this report.
