What we're covering
• Crossing Bahamas: Melissa is now passing through the Bahamas as a Category 1 hurricane after making landfall in Cuba this morning. Cuba suffered “significant damage” from the storm and around 140,000 people were cut off by rising river levels.
• Severe damage: Melissa hit Jamaica yesterday as one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, caused major damage to public infrastructure and left most of the island without power. The full extent of the devastation is unclear with some areas inaccessible.
• Deadly storm: More than 20 people died in Haiti, after a river flooded by Melissa burst its banks, the local mayor said. Four bodies were recovered in Jamaica’s badly hit St. Elizabeth Parish, and another three died on the island during storm preparations. One person died in the Dominican Republic.
• How to help: Here’s how to help those impacted and how to let us know if you’ve been affected.
National blood supply in Jamaica is "critically low," health ministry says
Officials are urgently asking people in Jamaica to donate blood to help replenish the national supply, which is “critically low.”
Hurricane Melissa “disrupted routine blood collection drives and has slowed the movement of blood and blood products to hospitals,” the country’s Ministry of Health and Wellness said in a statement today.
The shortage could affect people who need transfusions for things like surgery or trauma care, it said.
The latest on Hurricane Melissa as it crosses through the Bahamas
Hurricane Melissa is now crossing through the Bahamas, bringing heavy rain and damaging wind to some of the islands.
Meanwhile, Jamaica is starting recovery and restoration efforts. Officials in hard hit areas are describing a beyond-catastrophic level of damage.
Here’s the latest:
- Tracking the storm: Melissa is a Category 1 and is just off the coast of Long Island in the Bahamas, according to the National Hurricane Center. Winds, flooding rain and dangerous storm surge is expected to continue into early tomorrow morning.
- Surveying damage: Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness surveyed damage in the Parish of St. Elizabeth today. Images from the helicopter show damaged homes, torn-off roofs and debris littering an entire town. Richard Solomon is the mayor of Black River, a major town in the Parish. He said, “The conditions here are devastating, catastrophic is a mild term based on what we are observing here.”
- Challenges: A CNN crew observed residents and military personnel pushing more than a dozen ambulances past storm debris in the town of Santa Cruz as the medical convoy headed to a coastal area in western Jamaica. The roads in downtown Santa Cruz are covered with mud and silt, along with rubble. Several ambulances got stuck in mud.
- Restoration efforts: Jamaica Public Service, an energy utility company, is conducting a damage assessment of the power grid. About 77% of the country is currently without electricity, according to a government spokesperson.
- Aid: The US State Department said it was deploying a “regional disaster response team” and other resources across Caribbean countries. It has also stood up a task force to manage the US response, according to a senior State Department official. Other organizations and authorities also said they were mobilizing aid to send. Jamaica’s three international airports will reopen between today and Thursday for relief and commercial flights.
- Death toll: Authorities in Jamaica have recovered four bodies St. Elizabeth Parish, a source in the government told CNN. Officials said previously three people died during storm preparations. At least 23 people have died in Haiti due to Hurricane Melissa, the country’s Civil Protection Agency said today. One person also died in the Dominican Republic.
CNN’s Michael Rios, Eric Zerkel, Max Saltman, Derek Van Dam, Devon Sayers, Kylie Atwood, Zachary Cohen and Mary Gilbert contributed reporting to this post.
Heavy equipment needed to reach people trapped in hard-hit areas, Jamaican minister says
Hard-hit communities in western Jamaica remain isolated by damage from Hurricane Melissa on Wednesday. Jamaican Minister of Information Dana Morris Dixon said responders need help to be able to “get to those marooned communities.”
“Having heavy equipment, having crews that can come in and assist us in getting to those areas is really important,” she told CNN’s Jake Tapper today.
Dixon also stressed the importance of getting food aid flown in to these areas. People living there are “cut off” and need supplies, she said.
Earlier today, four bodies were recovered in largely rural St. Elizabeth Parish, according to a source in the government. Dixon said its unclear how much higher the death toll might climb.
“We have reports from other parts of Jamaica of potential deaths, but we are not able to verify it with the police because we’ve not been able to get many of our emergency teams into those communities,” she said.
Norman Manley International Airport, the major airport in Kingston, is set to open this afternoon, according to Dixon. This means humanitarian planes arriving with aid will be able to land, she said.
At least 23 people dead in Haiti, authorities say
At least 23 people have died, 17 have been injured and 13 are missing in Haiti due to Hurricane Melissa, the country’s Civil Protection Agency said Wednesday.
Twenty of the deaths happened in Petit-Goâve, where an overflowing river caused widespread flooding, the agency said, revising an earlier death toll of 25 that was previously reported by the mayor. Ten of the deceased were children. Another 10 people in that town are still missing.
Satellite images show widespread damage in western Jamaica
New satellite images obtained by CNN from Vantor show extensive damage in Jamaica following Hurricane Melissa.
The images show widespread flooding and structural damage in towns on the country’s western side, including Black River, White House, and Montego Bay.
Melissa is now a Category 1 hurricane as it moves through the Bahamas
As of 5 p.m. ET, Melissa is a 90 mph Category 1 hurricane located just off the southern coast of Long Island in the Bahamas, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Melissa is unleashing damaging winds, flooding rain and dangerous storm surge on the Bahamas. These hazards will persist into at least early Thursday morning.
The hurricane is now moving to the northeast at 16 mph and will continue to accelerate. Melissa could strengthen again in the next day or so.
US State Department establishes task force to manage hurricane response
The State Department stood up a task force on Wednesday to manage the US response to the hurricane, according to senior State Department officials who are pledging a “robust” US response to the massive storm.
The task force is a joint effort between the bureaus for Western Hemisphere Affairs and Population, Immigration and Refugees, the officials said. The department has also deployed Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DART) to the Bahamas, Jamaica and Haiti and those teams are expected to arrive in the next 24 hours, one of the officials said.
On top of the State Department effort, the US military is making plans to deploy a “situational assessment team” to Jamaica that will be tasked with evaluating the conditions in areas impacted by the hurricane, according to a defense official.
The assessment team would assess “the unique requirements needed for timely and effective life-saving, urgent humanitarian aid, and disaster response operations,” the official noted.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X Wednesday that the US is in “close contact with the governments of Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic and The Bahamas as they confront the devastating impacts of Hurricane Melissa. We have rescue and response teams heading to affected areas along with critical lifesaving supplies. Our prayers are with the people of the Caribbean.”
These are some of the governments and non-profits giving aid to Caribbean islands
Companies and governments are pledging money and sending supplies to support communities in the Caribbean hit hard by Hurricane Melissa.
The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, an Atlanta-based non-profit, announced it is giving $2.5 million to support hurricane relief. The money will be split between World Central Kitchen and Team Rubicon, the statement said.
World Central Kitchen, a US-based non-profit, said in its latest update on X one of its partner restaurants was serving meals to families impacted by Melissa. The organization’s “network of local partners is mobilizing to reach the hardest-hit communities with nourishing meals and care,” it said.
On board Air Force One Tuesday, United States President Donald Trump told reporters, “On a humanitarian basis, we have to” send assistance to Jamaica.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio — whose family immigrated from Cuba, which was hit hard by the storm — confirmed the US was in close contact with officials in Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.
“We have rescue and response teams heading to affected areas along with critical lifesaving supplies,” he said on X. Earlier, the State Department also said the US would be sending search and rescue personnel.
The United Kingdom also said today it was deploying £2.5 million ($3.3 million) in emergency humanitarian funding to aid the recovery of Caribbean islands.
There is also an official Jamaican government website for donations.
Melissa is bearing down on the Bahamas
The center of Melissa is likely about an hour or two away from crossing through the Bahamas.
The red and black coloring in the loop above indicate areas where the thunderstorms fueling Melissa are really energetic. The hurricane’s center appears to be just east of that area of storminess. It’s likely that some tremendously heavy rain is falling over or near Long Island, given those storms.
Torrential rain is also likely falling in areas caught under the yellows and oranges above.
"Entire infrastructure" of Black River, Jamaica, is destroyed, prime minister says
The “entire infrastructure” of St. Elizabeth’s Parish capital, Black River, has been destroyed by Hurricane Melissa, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said Wednesday afternoon after surveying the damage.
Other key facilities, including the hospital, historic buildings, churches, the courthouse, the parish council, and other heritage buildings, have also been damaged or destroyed, Holness said during a media briefing.
He estimated that the storm destroyed about 80-90% of the roofs he saw in an aerial tour between Treasure Beach and Black River.
Mayor Richard Solomon said the town’s relief supplies have been “wiped out” and that their vehicles are inoperable due to water damage, leaving them unable to respond.
Four people have died in the parish, according to St. Elizabeth Police Superintendent Coleridge Minto. Two bodies were found floating in the Black River area and two additional bodies were discovered in the Galleon Beach area, he said.
Jamaican prime minister surveys damage in St. Elizabeth
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness says he is in St. Elizabeth Parish to survey the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa.
Videos he posted on X show him boarding a helicopter for an aerial view of the area, which revealed damaged homes, torn-off roofs and debris littering an entire town.
He also walked through neighborhoods to speak with residents about the destruction.
“The damage is great, but we are going to devote all our energy to mount a strong recovery,” he wrote on X.
Melissa rapidly intensified twice. Here's what that means
Rapid intensification is when the maximum sustained winds in a hurricane increase by at least 35 mph in 24 hours or less. Melissa accomplished this feat twice from Saturday morning into early Monday afternoon.
The first of those two intensity spikes was on another level: Extreme rapid intensification, or a wind speed increase of at least 58 mph in 24 hours or less. Melissa’s winds jumped by 70 mph in 18 hours from Saturday morning to Sunday morning.
A hotter-than-average Caribbean in combination with favorable winds high in the atmosphere made conditions ripe for Melissa to grow into a historic Category 5.
“We are trying to let everybody know that the situation is devastating”
Catastrophic isn’t a strong enough word to describe the kind of devastation some parts of Jamaica are faced with after Hurricane Melissa, officials said today.
“The conditions here are devastating, catastrophic is a mild term based on what we are observing here,” Black River Mayor Richard Solomon said in a video posted by the Jamaica Constabulary Force.
Black River is a coastal town in southwest Jamaica. The western side of the island borne the brunt of the Category 5 hurricane, government officials said previously.
“The hospital is totally devastated,” Solomon said. “When I say we are immobile, police units are down, all the units at the EOC (Emergency Operations Centre) are down because they would have been covered with water throughout the hurricane.”
“Everything has been washed away by flood waters,” said Coleridge Minto, a superintendent of police and commanding officer for the St. Elizabeth Division of the Jamaica Constabulary Force. What little food and water supplies they had, they gave to nurses and doctors, he said.
Solomon added that a storage container with relief supplies was “totally wiped out.” He and Minto called for aid from the prime minister and global organizations.
Four bodies recovered in Jamaica's St. Elizabeth Parish, source says
Authorities in Jamaica have recovered four bodies in the badly hit St. Elizabeth Parish in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, a source in the government told CNN on Wednesday.
CNN has reached out to the police superintendent and parish disaster coordinator for more information.
Kingston airport to reopen for relief flights today, others to follow, transport minister says
Jamaican Transport Minister Daryl Vaz said the country’s three international airports will reopen between today and Thursday for relief and commercial flights.
Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston will accept relief flights by 4 p.m. local time today, Vaz wrote in a post on X, with commercial flights resuming at 7 a.m. Thursday.
Ian Fleming International Airport on the island’s northeast coast will open Thursday at 7 a.m. for commercial flights.
Sangster Airport in the country’s north will reopen for relief flights at 10 a.m. Thursday, Vaz added, with commercial flights to be determined “following completion of assessment.”
Damage in northwestern Jamaica is “significant,” says hotel manager
Keitho Nembhard, a hotelier at the Grand Palladium Hotel in Lucea, Jamaica, said that Hurricane Melissa left the island’s northwest tip in ruins.
“The devastation around is significant,” Nembhard told CNN. “Lots of downed trees, lots of debris, damage to properties, lots of roofs have blown off.”
Numerous staff members are still unable to contact relatives or make it home due to downed communication lines and blocked roads, Nembhard added.
On Tuesday night, the hotelier sheltered in place at the Grand Palladium with other employees and around 700 guests.
“It was horrible,” Nembhard said. “It was very frightening. You could see massive waves, coming ashore, high as between 13 to 15 feet. Lots of water falling around us. But what we saw during that was our team members and our management team stood firm, trying to ensure some level of safety and security for everyone involved as we hunkered down and supported each other.”
Today, residents and tourists alike are busy helping others in Melissa’s aftermath, Nembhard said.
“What I’m seeing currently is a resilient set of people, a lot of Jamaicans are out, assisting each other to rebuild the day after the storm,” he said. “We are already rebuilding. We’re putting over Bob Marley music. We’re trying to work best to get through to our relatives and friends, and at the same time, we are holding together.”
Responders race to hard-hit western Jamaica
A CNN crew observed residents and military personnel push more than a dozen ambulances past storm debris in the town of Santa Cruz as the medical convoy headed to a coastal area in western Jamaica, which was hit hard by Hurricane Melissa.
The roads in downtown Santa Cruz are covered with mud and silt, along with rubble, corrugated metal from roofs ripped apart by Melissa’s high winds
Numerous trees are down along the roads toward Black River, forcing the convoy to chain-saw its way to the badly hit coastal town.
Several ambulances became stuck in mud on the outskirts of Santa Cruz before being freed and sent on their way with the help of residents.
Jamaican authorities warned on Wednesday that Black River Hospital had been “devastated, for want of a better word.”
Melissa was once a Category 5, now it's a Category 2. Here's the difference
Hurricane categories are tied to wind speed, with stronger winds indicating a more powerful storm. As a storm’s power increases, so too does its potential to cause damage.
Melissa was a ferocious Category 5 hurricane when it slammed Jamaica on Tuesday, the maximum level on the scale above. Category 5s — and 4s — inflict catastrophic damage on anything in their path. The full extent of damage in Jamaica is still coming into focus but officials have said the country’s infrastructure has been “severely compromised.”
When Melissa later hit Cuba in the earliest hours of Monday morning, it was a Category 3 hurricane. Hurricanes this strong can be devastating, and so far the damage in Cuba has been “significant,” according to officials.
Now, Melissa is a Category 2 and is still capable of extensive damage as it impacts the Bahamas this afternoon and evening.
Boil water advisory issued for parts of Cuba's Guantanamo Bay naval station
Cuba’s Naval Station Guantanamo Bay advised some people on base to boil water Wednesday morning following a water main break. Hurricane Melissa made landfall on the island earlier today, leaving significant damage.
Jamaica electric service turns toward restoration efforts as majority of country still in the dark
Recovery and restoration efforts are underway in Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa devastated the island.
Jamaica Public Service, an energy utility company, is conducting a damage assessment of the power grid as a “critical first step,” it said in a post on X. About 77% of the country is currently without electricity, according to a government spokesperson.
“This gives us all the information we need to restore power in the safest and quickest way,” the company said.
The electric grid was showing signs of strain even before the storm hit yesterday, officials said.
Jamaican officials are also working on getting aid into the country. Commercial and humanitarian flights are expected to resume this week, Daryl Vaz, Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and Transport, said in a post on X.
“Best efforts are being made to have this available tomorrow,” he said.
The US State Department said it was deploying a “regional disaster response team” and other resources across Caribbean countries. Other organizations and authorities also said they were mobilizing aid to send.
CNN’s Joe Sutton contributed reporting to this post.
