Jamaica reports 19 dead after Hurricane Melissa
Hurricane Melissa has killed at least 19 people on the Caribbean island of Jamaica, according to the first official death toll announced by Information Minister Dana Morris Dixon on Thursday, WAM reported.
With another 30 deaths reported in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic, the total number of fatalities across the Caribbean has risen to at least 50 and is expected to climb further.
Although the hurricane has moved back over open water, it is too early to give the all-clear. Melissa has strengthened again to a Category 2 storm and is heading towards the island chain of Bermuda in the North Atlantic.
According to the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) in Miami, the storm is producing sustained winds of up to 165 kilometres per hour.
Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday as a Category 5 hurricane - one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the Atlantic. Exceptionally strong winds and torrential rain triggered storm surges and destroyed countless buildings.
Jamaica's government declared the island a disaster zone.