Hurricane Melissa: 25 dead in Haiti; river bursts banks, homes swept away

At slightest 25 radical died successful the confederate coastal municipality of Petit-Goave, Haiti aft terrible flooding from Hurricane Melissa swept done the area, section officials said Wednesday.Mayor Jean Bertrand Subrème told The Associated Press that the La Digue stream burst its banks and flooded adjacent homes.

Dozens of houses collapsed, and immoderate residents remained trapped nether the rubble Wednesday morning.

Only 1 authoritative from Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency was successful the area, arsenic residents struggled to evacuate amid dense floodwaters.Melissa made landfall Tuesday successful Jamaica arsenic a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane with apical winds of 185 mph (295 kph), 1 of the strongest Atlantic storms connected record. It past moved connected to Cuba, leaving wide demolition crossed the Caribbean.In Jamaica, much than 25,000 radical were packed into shelters aft the tempest ripped roofs from homes and near galore temporarily homeless. Dana Morris Dixon, Jamaica’s acquisition minister, said that 77% of the land was without powerfulness Wednesday.In Cuba, officials reported collapsed houses, blocked upland roads, and roofs blown disconnected successful respective regions, with the astir demolition successful the southwest and northwest. Authorities said astir 735,000 radical remained successful shelters successful eastbound Cuba. “That was hell. All nighttime long, it was terrible,” said Reinaldo Charon successful Santiago de Cuba.Hurricane Melissa near dozens dormant and caused wide devastation crossed Haiti, Cuba, and Jamaica, knocking retired powerfulness and forcing thousands from their homes arsenic floodwaters and fierce winds battered the region.