The Latest: Hurricane Melissa leaves 25 dead in Haiti, causes widespread damage in Jamaica and Cuba

SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba (AP) — Flooding from Hurricane Melissa killed 25 people in Haiti while the storm still churned across Cuba on Wednesday after leaving Jamaica with widespread damage and power outages, officials said.

Jean Bertrand Subrème, mayor of the southern Haitian coastal town of Petit-Goâve, told The Associated Press that 25 people died after La Digue river burst its banks and flooded nearby homes. Dozens of homes collapsed and people were still trapped under rubble as of Wednesday morning, he said.

“I am overwhelmed by the situation,” he said as he pleaded with the government to help rescue victims.

In eastern Cuba, hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated and a hurricane warning was in effect for the provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Holguin and Las Tunas as Hurricane Melissa made landfall as a Category 3 storm early Wednesday.

The storm, which has since been downgraded to Category 2, was expected to generate a storm surge of up to 12 feet (3.6 meters) in the region and drop up to 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain in parts of eastern Cuba.

Melissa was expected later Wednesday to move through the southeastern or central Bahamas, where a hurricane warning is in effect.

Authorities in Jamaica are assessing the damage from Melissa after it tore through the island nation Tuesday as the fifth most intense Atlantic hurricane on record by pressure, and the strongest to make landfall since 2019.

Here’s the latest:

‘Growing in size’

Michael Brennan, director of the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, said the storm began affecting the southeastern Bahamas on Wednesday.

“The storm is growing in size,” he said, noting that tropical storm force winds now extend almost 200 miles (322 kilometers) from the center.

Melissa’s center is forecast to move through southeastern Bahamas later Wednesday, generating up to 7 feet (2 meters) of storm surge in the area.

“People should be in their safe shelter,” he said.

By late Thursday, Melissa is expected to pass just west of Bermuda.

Brennan warned that additional flooding was still possible Wednesday in Jamaica and in southern Haiti, where at least 25 were reported killed after a river burst its banks.

Most of Jamaica without power

Dana Morris Dixon, Jamaica’s education minister, said that 77% of the island was without power on Wednesday.

“That is a large number,” she said, adding that the water systems, however, were not greatly affected.

She said Prime Minister Andrew Holness would soon fly over the most affected areas, including St. Elizabeth, Manchester, West Moreland and St. James, where crews were still trying to access areas and determine the extent of the damage.

“It is too early for us to say definitely,” she noted.

Thousands packed into shelters in Jamaica

More than 25,000 people were packed into shelters across Jamaica on Wednesday, hours after Melissa made landfall as a catastrophic Category 5 storm.

People kept streaming into the shelters throughout the day after the storm ripped off the roofs of their homes and left them temporarily homeless.

“It’s not going to be an easy road, Jamaica,” said Desmond McKenzie, deputy chairman of Jamaica’s Disaster Risk Management Council.

He said no one should be turned away from any shelter, and that they would remain open indefinitely until a long-term housing solution is found.

At least 25 killed in Haiti

Jean Bertrand Subrème, mayor of the southern Haitian coastal town of Petit-Goâve, told The Associated Press that 25 people died after La Digue river burst its banks and flooded nearby homes.

Dozens of homes collapse and people remain trapped under the rubble, he said, adding: “I am overwhelmed by the situation.”

Over 730,000 people take shelter in eastern Cuba

Cuban authorities said some 735,000 people remain in shelters after being evacuated from their homes in the island’s eastern region.

Yanetsy Terry Gutiérrez, governor of Granma province, one of the first areas hit by the hurricane, said Wednesday morning that “several areas of the province are underwater, with the most significant impact in the municipal capital of Jiguaní.”

She said that rivers overflowed, flooding homes and workplaces.

Officials also reported collapsed houses, blocked mountain roads and roofs blown off. The province’s reservoirs continue to overflow after being filled by heavy rains.

More than 15 inches (40 centimeters) of rain was reported in the Jiguaní settlement of Charco Redondo.

Aid response for Cuba

UNICEF reported on social media that it was sending aid to Cuba, including 1,900 sheets of roofing material, waterproof blankets, recreation kits for 20,000 children, and school supplies for 10,000 children under five.

Landslides and floods in Jamaica

The small town of Santa Cruz in the southern Jamaican parish of St. Elizabeth was devastated by Hurricane Melissa.

A massive landslide triggered by widespread flooding blocked the town’s main roads, and streets have been reduced to mud pits. Residents swept out gallons of water from their homes as they tried to salvage whatever was left of their belongings.

“I never see anything like this before in all my years living here,” said Jennifer Small.

Fierce winds ripped off part of the roof at St. Elizabeth Technical High School, which was designated a public shelter.

“The entire hillside came down last night,” Robert James said.

Some residents emerge in eastern Cuba

“That was hell. All night long, it was terrible,” said Reinaldo Charon, 52, who was one of the few people who ventured out on Wednesday morning in Santiago de Cuba, covered by a plastic sheet to keep dry from the intermittent rain.

David Savaree, a 44-year-old mechanic, said: “I saw (Melissa) as weaker than (Hurricane) Sandy, but we have to keep going.”

Melissa tore off roofs and uprooted trees in the eastern province, but the extent of the damage wasn’t immediately known.

‘Rain is still coming’

In Cuba’s Las Tunas, 73-year-old retiree Manuel Pérez told The Associated Press by phone it was impossible to quantify the damage just yet because the hurricane hit at night, when one was on the streets.

“The winds and gusts were very strong, and the rain is still coming,” he said.

Jamaica lifts tropical storm warning – NHC

As Jamaican officials report complications in assessing the damage, the National Hurricane Center said the local government had lifted the tropical storm warning there.

Melissa is expected to remain a powerful hurricane when it moves across the Bahamas on Wednesday and passes near Bermuda on Thursday night, the NHC said in an advisory.

‘There will be a lot of damage’

The hurricane could worsen Cuba’s severe economic crisis, which already has led to prolonged power blackouts, as well as fuel and food shortages.

“There will be a lot of work to do. We know there will be a lot of damage,” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said in a televised address.

He urged the public not to underestimate the power of Melissa, “the strongest ever to hit national territory.”

Jamaica assesses damage

In Jamaica, officials told local radio there was extensive damage in the island’s southwestern and northwestern regions.

“There’s a total communication blackout on that side,” said Richard Thompson, acting director general of Jamaica’s Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management.

More than half a million customers were without power late Tuesday as officials reported that most of the island had downed trees, power lines and extensive flooding.

Extensive damage was reported in parts of Clarendon in the south and in the southwestern parish of St. Elizabeth, which was “under water,” said Desmond McKenzie, deputy chairman of Jamaica’s Disaster Risk Management Council.

The storm damaged four hospitals and left one without power, forcing officials to evacuate 75 patients, McKenzie said.

US sends search and rescue teams

The U.S. government said it was deploying a disaster response team and search and rescue personnel to the region.

The State Department said non-emergency personnel and family members of U.S. government employees were authorized to leave Jamaica because of the storm’s impact.