People across the northern Caribbean are beginning to dig out from the destruction of Hurricane Melissa, as deaths from the catastrophic storm climbed to at least 28 across Haiti, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, with Haiti reporting most of those fatalities. On Thursday, Melissa was moving away from the Bahamas and had turned toward Bermuda, where weather conditions were expected to “rapidly deteriorate” later in the day, according to the National Hurricane Center.
President Trump has directed the State Department “to mobilize support for affected communities” in Jamaica, the Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti, and Turks and Caicos in the aftermath of the hurricane, the department said in an announcement on Thursday. The announcement said it would also be monitoring the situation in Bermuda.
“The State Department is collaborating with UN agencies, NGOs, and host governments to deliver food, water, medical supplies, hygiene kits, temporary shelter, and search and rescue support,” the announcement said.
In Jamaica, the rumble of large machinery, whine of chainsaws and chopping of machetes echoed throughout the southeast as government workers and residents began clearing roads in a push to reach isolated communities that sustained a direct hit from one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record.
Stunned residents wandered about, some staring at their roofless homes and waterlogged belongings strewn around them.
Emergency relief flights began landing at Jamaica’s main international airport, which reopened late Wednesday, as crews distributed water, food and other basic supplies.
“The devastation is enormous,” Jamaican Transportation Minister Daryl Vaz said.
At a news conference Thursday morning, Vaz and other officials spoke about some of the lingering consequences of the hurricane for communities in Jamaica.
“There are people who still have not been able to make contact with their families, their loved ones, their friends, and road access is still impossible,” Vaz told reporters, referencing isolated areas on the western side of the island that responders have not yet been able to reach. “So, you can imagine the deep, deep sense of worry that is widespread across Jamaica.”
An aerial view of destroyed buildings following the passage of Hurricane Melissa, in Black River, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, on Oct. 29, 2025. / Credit: RICARDO MAKYN /AFP via Getty Images
Some Jamaicans wondered where they would live.
“I am now homeless, but I have to be hopeful because I have life,” said Sheryl Smith, who lost the roof of her home.
Authorities said they have found at least four bodies in southwest Jamaica.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness said up to 90% of roofs in the southwest coastal community of Black River were destroyed.
“Black River is what you would describe as ground zero,” he said. “The people are still coming to grips with the destruction.”
More than 25,000 people remained crowded into shelters across the western half of Jamaica, with 77% of the island without power.
Dana Morris Dixon, a minister of education and information, said at a Thursday news conference that military crews and government officials were still working to access some of the western areas hit hardest by the storm. They were able to visit a handful of places by helicopter on Wednesday, but at times could not physically get to all of the locations they wanted to reach because “sometimes the helicopter could not land due to the devastation,” Dixon said.
“The military is cutting their way on foot through blocked roads,” the minister continued, adding that crews were in the middle of attempting to cut through an area covered with thick bamboo, a task they could not finish completely on Wednesday and resumed Thursday morning.
Haiti hard hit
Melissa also unleashed catastrophic flooding in Haiti, where at least 23 people were reported killed and 13 others missing, mostly in the country’s southern region. Another 17 people suffered injuries, officials said.
Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency said Hurricane Melissa killed at least 20 people in Petit-Goâve, including 10 children. It also damaged more than 160 homes and destroyed 80 others.
Officials warned that 152 disabled people in Haiti’s southern region required emergency food assistance. More than 11,600 people remained sheltered in Haiti because of the storm.
Girl walks through water from Hurricane Melissa in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Oct. 29, 2025. / Credit: Guerinault Louis / Anadolu via Getty Images
Cuba cleanup begins
In Cuba, people began to clear blocked roads and highways with heavy equipment and even enlisted the help of the military, which rescued people trapped in isolated communities and at risk from landslides.
No fatalities were reported after the Civil Defense evacuated more than 735,000 people across eastern Cuba. They slowly were starting to return home.
“We are cleaning the streets, clearing the way,” said Yaima Almenares, a physical education teacher from the city of Santiago, as she and other neighbors swept branches and debris from sidewalks and avenues, cutting down fallen tree trunks and removing accumulated trash.
In the more rural areas outside the city of Santiago de Cuba, water remained accumulated in vulnerable homes on Wednesday night as residents returned from their shelters to save beds, mattresses, chairs, tables and fans they had elevated ahead of the storm.
A televised Civil Defense meeting chaired by President Miguel Díaz-Canel did not provide an official estimate of the damage. However, officials from the affected provinces — Santiago, Granma, Holguín, Guantánamo and Las Tunas — reported losses of roofs, power lines, fiber optic telecommunications cables, cut roads, isolated communities and losses of banana, cassava and coffee plantations.
Officials said the rain was beneficial for the reservoirs and for easing a severe drought in eastern Cuba.
Many communities were still without electricity, internet and telephone service due to downed transformers and power lines.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday in a statement that the State Department would issue a declaration of humanitarian assistance for Cuba and vowed to provide the country with that assistance “directly and via local partners who can most effectively deliver it to those in need.”
“In the wake of Hurricane Melissa’s devastation of eastern Cuba, the Trump Administration stands with the brave Cuban people who continue to struggle to meet basic needs,” Rubio said in the statement.
When Melissa came ashore in Jamaica as a Category 5 hurricane with top winds of 185 mph on Tuesday, it tied strength records for Atlantic hurricanes making landfall, both in wind speed and barometric pressure. It was still a Category 3 hurricane when it made landfall again in eastern Cuba early Wednesday.
Melissa not done yet
A hurricane warning was in effect early Thursday for Bermuda as Melissa began heading that way, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Heavy rains and gusty winds hit the central and southeastern Bahamas early Thursday, the NHC said.
Map shows the forecast path of Hurricane Melissa. / Credit: CBS News
Melissa was a Category 2 storm with top sustained winds near 105 mph and was moving north-northeast at 24 mph, the center added.
“Melissa is expected to pass to the northwest of Bermuda later today and tonight,” the NHC said Thursday. “Little change in strength is expected today, and a weakening trend is likely to begin on Friday.”
What to expect from Trump meeting with Xi Jinping
Trump fires entire board overseeing D.C. construction amid White House ballroom controversy
Judge admonishes ICE leader in Chicago after agents descend on Halloween parade
