Hurricane Melissa live updates: At least 40 dead as storm thrashes Bermuda and Caribbean nations assess damage
Hurricane Melissa is passing to the northwest of Bermuda on Thursday night after killing at least 40 people in the Caribbean.
Bermuda is under a Hurricane Warning as the Category 2 storm passes nearby. Tropical storm conditions are now spreading over Bermuda, with hurricane conditions expected later in the evening, the National Hurricane Center said at 11 p.m. on Thursday.
The storm’s winds are currently at 100 mph, and it’s expected to weaken on Thursday night, according to the National Hurricane Center. It’s then expected to become a post-tropical low by Friday night.
Hurricane Melissa’s death toll has continued to rise as authorities survey the damage from the record-breaking storm.
Authorities in Haiti said at least 30 people, including children, have been killed, according to the Associated Press. At least 19 deaths have also been reported in Jamaica. No casualties have been reported in Cuba, but the island has suffered widespread destruction.
The storm was the Caribbean’s third-most intense hurricane on record, as well as its slowest-moving, which made for even greater devastation from Jamaica to Cuba and Haiti.
The U.S. said it would deploy disaster response teams to the Caribbean to help those affected by Melissa.
