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Hurricane Melissa Speeds Toward Bermuda After Leaving a Destructive Path in the Caribbean: Live Updates - The New York Times
Live Updates: Hurricane Melissa Speeds Toward Bermuda After Leaving a Destructive Path in the Caribbean
"The storm left the Jamaican port of Black River unrecognizable, leveling buildings and leaving what one official described as “total devastation.” At least 23 deaths were reported in Haiti and five in Jamaica, but the overall toll could climb.
Hurricane Melissa’s destructive path across Jamaica has rendered parts of the island unrecognizable to residents, leaving behind towns littered with rubble, twisted cellphone towers and a nation still struggling to count the dead.
In Black River, the capital of St. Elizabeth Parish on Jamaica’s southwestern coast, “only places that have four concrete walls are still standing, and usually their roofs are gone,” said Amiri Bradley, who frequently visits the port town.
Oct. 30, 2025, 11:30 a.m. ET
Dana Morris Dixon, Jamaica’s information minister, said at a news briefing on Thursday that West Jamaica was devastated by Hurricane Melissa, with some areas “flattened.”
“I think the entire Jamaica is really broken because of what has happened,” she said. “But we remain resilient.”
Dixon said the military was cutting its way by foot through blocked roads to reach Black River and other decimated communities in Western Jamaica. She added that soldiers were using a helicopter to respond to reports of any bodies found.
Maria Alejandra Cardona/Reuters
Oct. 30, 2025, 11:18 a.m. ET
In an official statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the State Department had issued a formal Declaration of Humanitarian Assistance for Cuba after Hurricane Melissa. He said the United States was prepared to provide aid “directly and via local partners who can most effectively deliver it to those in need.” He noted that U.S. law, which forbids nearly all commerce with the island, includes “exemptions and authorizations relating to private donations of food, medicine, and other humanitarian goods to Cuba, as well as disaster response.” Rubio has long been one of the fiercest critics of Cuba’s government and a supporter of strict economic sanctions on the island.
Oct. 30, 2025, 9:31 a.m. ET
Melissa might brush or move over the southeastern tip of Newfoundland, Canada, early Saturday morning. This isn’t unusual. The storm could still have the power of a hurricane when it reaches the coast, but may already have transitioned or be shifting toward a storm more like a powerful nor’easter than a tropical cyclone.
Oct. 30, 2025, 8:21 a.m. ET
The British government said Thursday that it was preparing flights to help British citizens in Jamaica leave the island, now that Hurricane Melissa has passed and the main international airport has reopened. It said that it would give preference to people with medical needs and children.
Oct. 30, 2025, 6:42 a.m. ET
Melissa is traveling much faster than it was for much of the past week. Initially moving at a slow walking pace as it approached Jamaica, Melissa is now racing toward Bermuda at 21 m.p.h. with winds at 105 m.p.h. and strengthening. Forecasters expect the storm to pass northwest of the island tonight, close enough to bring hurricane-force winds to the island.
Satellite imagery showing Black River, Jamaica, before and after Hurricane Melissa.Vantor, via Agence France-Presse
Black River on Wednesday was unrecognizable to people there: The coastline was strewed with massive boulders, and a cellphone tower had twisted into a semicircle.
“Only places that have four concrete walls are still standing, and usually their roofs are gone,” said Amiri Bradley, who frequently visits the port town.
A man surveyed his damaged home in Santa Cruz, Jamaica, on Wednesday after Hurricane Melissa struck.Matias Delacroix/Associated Press
Members of the Jamaican community in Bermuda said they were struggling to reach relatives to confirm their safety amid efforts to organize relief after Hurricane Melissa, as downed power lines and damaged cell towers limited communication across the island.
Bermuda is home to several thousand Jamaican nationals, many of whom maintain daily contact with parents, children and extended family across the Caribbean. But after the hurricane disrupted infrastructure in western Jamaica, calls and messages have gone unanswered for more than a day.
The former headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, long America’s primary arm for international disaster relief, in Washington in July.Jason Andrew for The New York Times
The State Department has asked the United States military to assist with disaster relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday, as the Trump administration mobilized its emergency response to Jamaica and its hard-hit Caribbean neighbors.
It was unclear what military assets might be involved, but the official said the mission would likely include airlifts of food, water and other supplies to remote areas of Jamaica that have been cut off from the rest of the island."
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