Caribbean reels from hurricane’s devastation

PARTS of the Caribbean are assessing the extensive damage left by Hurricane Melissa after the powerful storm swept across the region, killing dozens and leaving widespread devastation in its wake.

- 

Hurricane Melissa, one of the most intense Atlantic hurricanes on record, made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday as a Category 5 storm before weakening as it moved across Cuba and the Bahamas. By Thursday morning, the hurricane was moving toward Bermuda, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).

The NHC warned that “catastrophic flash flooding and landslides” would continue across parts of the Caribbean even as the storm weakened. The hardest-hit areas include Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti, where severe flooding and destructive winds have damaged infrastructure, uprooted trees and torn down power lines.