20 dead as Hurricane Melissa devastates Haiti

AFP/APP

Port-au-Prince: At least 20 people have been killed and 10 others remain missing after severe flooding triggered by Hurricane Melissa swept through parts of Haiti, officials said on Wednesday.

Emmanuel Pierre, head of the country’s civil defense agency, confirmed that ten of the victims were children who drowned in river floods in southern Haiti. Rescue teams continue to search for the missing.

The overflowing Digue River destroyed several homes in the coastal town of Petit-Goave, residents reported.

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“People have been killed, and houses have been swept away by the water,” said Steeve Louissaint, a local resident.

Unverified videos circulating on social media show residents frantically searching for their loved ones. In one harrowing clip, a grieving father can be seen pulling his daughter’s body from the debris.

Hurricane Melissa, the most powerful storm to make landfall in the region in nearly 90 years, has also battered Jamaica and Cuba, causing “considerable damage,” according to Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel.

Though now downgraded to a Category 2 storm, Melissa continues to pose a threat, with hurricane warnings issued for parts of the Bahamas and Bermuda.

Earlier, Hurricane Melissa ripped up trees and knocked out power after making landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday as one of the most powerful hurricanes on record, inundating the island nation with rains that threaten flash floods and landslides.

The destructive storm struck Jamaica with ferocious sustained winds clocking 185 miles (300 kilometers) per hour on its deadly march across the Caribbean.

“This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation!” warned the US National Hurricane Center, urging residents to stay sheltered and as far from windows as possible, including during the brief calm offered by the storm’s eye.

Even as wind speeds dipped to 150 miles per hour, Melissa drenched communities and wreaked damage that may take days to assess as communication links remained largely down.

Surges in seawater combined with rainfall — which will likely be measured in feet, not inches — could trigger massive floods and landslides on the island with a population of 2.8 million.