Devastating Hurricane Melissa Claims Nearly 50 Lives Across Caribbean Islands: Climate Change Connection Revealed

The death toll from Hurricane Melissa has escalated to nearly 50 victims as of Thursday, according to officials, following the storm's devastating impact across Caribbean islands while advancing toward Bermuda.

Although flooding in the Bahamas is expected to recede, high water levels may persist in Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, as reported by the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).

Scientists at Imperial College London have determined that this catastrophic storm, among the most powerful ever documented, was four times more likely to occur due to human-induced climate change.

Late Thursday, Bermuda was experiencing tropical storm conditions and remained under a hurricane warning, with the NHC reporting maximum sustained winds reaching 100 miles (155 kilometers) per hour.

Bermuda's government has strongly encouraged residents to implement precautionary measures against the still-dangerous storm system.

Melissa struck both Jamaica and Cuba with tremendous force, leaving residents to assess extensive damage and contemplate the lengthy recovery process ahead.

Information Minister Dana Morris Dixon informed local news outlets, including the Jamaica Gleaner, that "The confirmed death toll from Hurricane Melissa is now at 19," with nine fatalities in Westmoreland and eight in St. Elizabeth, both western parishes that suffered severe impacts.

Communications and transportation networks remain largely inoperative in Jamaica and Cuba, potentially delaying comprehensive damage assessments for days.

Haiti's civil defense agency reported Thursday that fatalities had increased to 30, with 20 individuals injured and another 20 missing.

The agency further reported that over 1,000 homes have been flooded, forcing approximately 16,000 people into emergency shelters.

In eastern Cuba, a nation already struggling through its worst economic crisis in decades, residents waded through flooded streets lined with waterlogged and collapsed homes.

The hurricane shattered windows, toppled power and communication lines, and tore away roofs and tree branches throughout affected areas.

"Melissa killed us, because it left us destroyed," lamented Felicia Correa, a resident of La Trampa community near El Cobre, in a statement to AFP.

"We were already going through tremendous hardship. Now, of course, we are much worse off."

Cuban authorities reported evacuating approximately 735,000 people, primarily from Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, and Guantanamo provinces.

The United States has mobilized disaster assistance response teams and urban search and rescue personnel, with teams currently operating in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and the Bahamas, according to a State Department official.

Additional teams were en route to Haiti as well.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio extended assistance to ideological adversary Cuba, stating that the United States is "prepared to offer immediate humanitarian aid to the people of Cuba affected by the Hurricane."

The UK government announced emergency funding of £2.5 million (approximately $3.3 million) for the region and revealed plans to charter "limited" flights to evacuate British nationals.

In Jamaica, UN resident coordinator Dennis Zulu told reporters that Melissa had caused "tremendous, unprecedented devastation of infrastructure, of property, roads, network connectivity."

Jamaican authorities acknowledged difficulties in confirming casualty reports due to limited access to the hardest-hit areas, with many residents still unable to contact family members and loved ones.

Hurricane Melissa tied the 1935 record for the most intense storm ever to make landfall when it struck Jamaica on Tuesday, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In Seaford Town, farmer and businessman Christopher Hacker witnessed the destruction of his restaurant and nearby banana plantations.

"Everything is gone," he told AFP.

UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell described such mega-storms as "a brutal reminder of the urgent need to step up climate action on all fronts."