Melissa death toll climbs as entire communities left flattened; rescue efforts hindered

Entire towns in Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba were left in ruins this week as the death toll from Hurricane Melissa rose to at least 52, with widespread destruction and blocked roads slowing rescue and relief operations. Many communities across the Caribbean remained without power or clean water days after the Category 5 storm made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday.

In Black River, which Jamaican authorities described as the storm's "ground zero," up to 90% of structures lost their roofs after the hurricane made landfall just west of the town, according to The Associated Press. Towering bamboo stalks that once shaded the road into the seaside town now lay shredded across the highway, forcing soldiers to hack through with machetes to clear a path.

The storm struck Jamaica with sustained winds of 185 mph, tying records for the strongest Atlantic hurricanes to ever hit land in terms of both wind speed and pressure. U.S. forecaster AccuWeather said Melissa was the third most intense and slowest-moving hurricane ever recorded in the Caribbean.

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