Hurricane Melissa left 36 people dead this week as it passed through the Caribbean, and this Thursday it is heading towards Bermuda after being downgraded to category 2 on the Saffir Simpson scale.
According to Haiti's Civil Protection, cited by RT, there were three deaths due to the storm, while local authorities reported that another 25 people died from flooding in the city of Petit Goave.
In addition, in Jamaica, which authorities have declared a disaster zone, the death toll has risen to seven after four bodies were found in the Black River area. One more death has been reported in the Dominican Republic.
Melissa slammed into Jamaica as a Category 5 hurricane and hit Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane, and is expected to reach the Bahamas tonight with "hurricane conditions, life-threatening storm surge and heavy rainfall," or tropical storm conditions over the Turks and Caicos Islands, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC).
Although it did not directly hit Haiti, river flooding has been reported, affecting roads, homes, schools and churches, as well as torrential rains in several regions of the country, leaving more than 13.000 displaced.
In Jamaica, many families remain cut off due to the lack of telephone service, while more than 500.000 people were left without electricity and thousands more were affected.
In the case of CubaThe hurricane left destruction in its wake across the eastern part of the island, leaving millions of people without electricity and isolated, municipalities flooded and cut off, homes collapsed, crops flooded, and extensive material damage.
During the session of the National Defense Council, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel indicated that Melissa caused no loss of life and added that the storm left "significant damage." He also highlighted the resilience of the population in the eastern provinces during the hurricane.
"Everything is the result of the preparation, discipline, solidarity, unity and will of a people in Revolution, to put human life ahead of all priorities, even living under the conditions of another brutal hurricane that has already lasted more than 60 years," he asserted.
Melissa is expected to continue impacting Haiti, Cuba, the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos Islands with dangerous surf and strong ocean currents, which will extend towards Bermuda during the day.
The rains caused by the hurricane could leave up to 25 millimeters of accumulation in Bermuda, while in the southeast of the Bahamas total accumulations are estimated to reach up to 250 millimeters, and in the south of the Dominican Republic and Haiti up to one meter, although the risk of flooding begins to decrease in those areas.
