Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba pick up the pieces after Melissa's destruction

"The rumble of large machinery, whine of chain saws and chopping of machetes echoed through communities across the northern Caribbean on Thursday as they dug out from the destruction of Hurricane Melissa and surveyed the damage left behind. In Jamaica, government workers and residents began clearing roads in a push to reach dozens of isolated communities in the island's southeast that sustained a direct hit from one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record."

"Stunned residents wandered about, some staring at their roofless homes and waterlogged belongings strewn around them. "I don't have a house now," said Sylvester Guthrie, a resident of Lacovia in the southern parish of St. Elizabeth, as he held onto his bicycle, the only possession of value left after the storm. Emergency relief flights began landing at Jamaica's main international airport, which reopened late Wednesday, as crews distributed water, medicine and other basic supplies."

"Helicopters dropped food as they thrummed above communities where the storm flattened homes, wiped out roads and destroyed bridges, cutting them off from assistance. "The entire Jamaica is really broken because of what has happened," Education Minister Dana Morris Dixon said. Police said at least 14 people have died in Jamaica, and they expected the death toll to keep rising. In one isolated community, residents pleaded with officials to remove the body of one victim tangled in a tree."

Hurricane Melissa caused extensive destruction across the northern Caribbean, with Jamaica's southeast sustaining a direct hit from one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record. Residents used heavy machinery, chain saws and machetes to clear debris while stunned people surveyed roofless homes and waterlogged belongings. At least 14 people died and officials expect the death toll to rise. More than 13,000 people crowded into shelters, 72% of the island lacked power and only 35% of mobile phone sites operated. Emergency relief flights landed at the main international airport and helicopters dropped food while water trucks and crews distributed water, medicine and basic supplies.

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