Hurricane Melissa: Nearly 50 Dead in the Caribbean as Aid Arrives
Hurricane Melissa: Nearly 50 Dead in the Caribbean as Aid Arrives
International aid is flowing into the Caribbean on Friday following the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa, which has resulted in nearly 50 deaths in Haiti and Jamaica.
With homes in ruins, neighborhoods flooded, and communications cut off, the focus is now on assessing the damage caused by Melissa, which is expected to weaken over the North Atlantic after passing Bermuda.
According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC), flooding is expected to subside in the Bahamas, but water levels may remain high in Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, and neighboring Dominican Republic.
Made more destructive by climate change, the hurricane was the most powerful to make landfall in 90 years when it struck Jamaica on Tuesday as a Category 5 storm, the highest on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with winds of about 300 km/h.
"The confirmed death toll now stands at 19," including nine at the western tip of the island, stated Jamaica's Minister of Information Dana Morris Dixon on Thursday evening, as reported by local media.
Many residents have still been unable to contact their loved ones, authorities explained. The Jamaican army is working to clear blocked roads, according to the government.
"There has been immense, unprecedented destruction of infrastructure, property, roads, and communication and energy networks," said Dennis Zulu, UN coordinator for several Caribbean countries, from Kingston. "Our preliminary assessments indicate that the country has been devastated to levels never seen before."
- Melissa 'has killed us' -
In Haiti, which was not directly hit by the hurricane but has suffered from heavy rains, at least 30 people, including ten children, have died, and 20 are missing, according to the latest toll from authorities released on Thursday. Twenty-three of these deaths are attributed to the flooding of a river in the southwest of the country.
In Cuba, phone and road communications remain largely erratic.
In El Cobre, in the southwest of the communist island, the sound of hammers echoes under the returning sun: those whose roofs were blown away are trying to repair with the help of friends and neighbors, reported AFP.
"Melissa has killed us, leaving us devastated like this," said Felicia Correa, who lives in southern Cuba near El Cobre, to AFP. "We were already facing enormous difficulties. Now, obviously, our situation is much worse."
About 735,000 people had been evacuated, according to Cuban authorities.
- Rescuers -
Promised international aid is on its way to the devastated area.
The United States has mobilized rescue teams in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and the Bahamas, according to a State Department official. Teams were also en route to Haiti.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also indicated that Cuba, an ideological enemy, is included in the U.S. response.
Venezuela has sent 26,000 tons of humanitarian aid to its ally Cuba.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele announced on X that he would send "three humanitarian aid planes to Jamaica" on Friday with "more than 300 rescuers" and "50 tons" of essential goods.
Essential kits, water treatment units: France plans to deliver "in the coming days" a shipment of emergency humanitarian aid to Jamaica by sea, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The United Kingdom has released an emergency financial aid of 2.5 million pounds (2.8 million euros) for affected countries.
Climate change caused by human activities has made the hurricane more powerful and destructive, according to a study published Tuesday by climatologists from Imperial College London.
"Every climate disaster is a tragic reminder of the urgency to limit every fraction of a degree of warming, mainly caused by the burning of excessive amounts of coal, oil, and gas," said Simon Stiell, UN Executive Secretary for Climate Change, as the major UN climate conference COP30 opens in a few days in Brazil.
With the warming of ocean surfaces, the frequency of the most intense cyclones (or hurricanes or typhoons) is increasing, but not their total number, according to the UN-mandated climate experts, the IPCC.
AFP
