Shafaq News – Kingston / Port-au-Prince

Storm Melissa, one of the strongest hurricanes ever to hit the Caribbean, began to weaken on Friday after killing at least 50 people and devastating Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti, according to AccuWeather.

The storm struck Jamaica on October 28 as a Category 5 hurricane—the island’s most powerful on record and first major landfall since 1988—destroying homes, roads, and crops. AccuWeather estimated $48–52 billion in losses across the western Caribbean.

Jamaica confirmed 19 deaths, while Haiti reported 31 and 20 missing. More than 460,000 Jamaicans remain without power as relief teams distribute food and restore services. In Haiti’s southern town of Petit-Goave, 23 people, including 10 children, died after a river overflowed.

Cuba, struck later as a Category 3 storm, reported no deaths but heavy damage and large-scale evacuations. “The situation on the ground is apocalyptic,” Brian Bogart, the World Food Program's Caribbean director told reporters, after surveying the hardest-hit areas.