Hurricane Melissa’s path of destruction in Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti

Tragedy has struck the Caribbean this week as Hurricane Melissa caused devastation in Jamaica with life-threatening storm surges, flash floods and landslides on Cuba's eastern end before barrelling towards Haiti and Bermuda. The
strongest storm on record ever to hit the Caribbean island nation
blasted western Jamaica, demolishing homes, knocking down swaths of
trees and washing out roadways. Eyewitness reports and videos on social media from Jamaica showed vehicles destroyed by flying debris, hotel doors blown off hinges and roofs scattered across neighbourhoods. Video of the airport in Montego Bay showed inundated seating areas, broken glass and collapsed ceilings. In eastern Cuba, around 735,000 people were evacuated from homes as the storm approached, authorities said. By mid-morning, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Cuba had already suffered extensive damage and warned residents against letting down their guard, urging them to remain sheltered. People across the Bahamas and nearby Turks and Caicos hunkered down as the passing storm pummelled them with dangerous gusts and rain. The Category 4 storm, just one away from the strongest possible on the Saffir-Simpson scale, brought sustained winds of 130-156 mph (209-251 kph). The risk of death or injury is still considered very high under a Category 4 storm. Melissa is the third-most intense hurricane observed in the Caribbean after Wilma in 2005 and Gilbert in 1988, according to AccuWeather. Scientists say hurricanes are intensifying faster with greater frequency as a result of warming ocean waters caused by greenhouse gas emissions. Many Caribbean leaders have called on wealthy, heavy-polluting nations to provide reparations in the form of aid or debt relief to tropical island countries. "Our country has been ravaged by Hurricane Melissa but we will rebuild and we will do so even better than before," Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness said. Holness said his government was as prepared as it could be, with an emergency response budget of $33 million and insurance and credit provisions for damage a little larger than that sustained from last year's devastating Hurricane Beryl. Britain said it was deploying 2.5 million pounds ($3.36 million) in emergency humanitarian funding to assist the Caribbean region's recovery from Hurricane Melissa, with targeted support for Jamaica. Britain's colonial rule in Jamaica between 1655–1962 rested on slavery and plantation wealth, and lingering land inequities and reparations claims continue to strain relations. Some members of the U.S. Congress called for the State Department to swiftly deploy disaster relief assistance. The United States has traditionally been a big donor to Caribbean nations in emergencies, but the Trump administration has upended U.S. foreign aid policies. Hurricane Melissa could have deep economic impacts, in part because of Jamaica's reliance on tourism. Jamaica is the Caribbean's second-most visited destination after the Dominican Republic. Tourism is critical to the economy, bringing in $4.3 billion in earnings last year, according to the country's tourism ministry. The sector also delivers over 300,000 jobs, with around 40% of earnings from tourism staying in Jamaica, twice the Caribbean average according to a widely quoted U.N. World Tourism Organization report. Jamaica's government launched an official website to collect funds for the island's disaster relief, the country's information minister Dana Morris Dixon said.