Entire towns in Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba were left in ruins this week as the death toll from Hurricane Melissa rose to at least 52, with widespread destruction and blocked roads slowing rescue and relief operations. Many communities across the Caribbean remained without power or clean water days after the Category 5 storm made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday.

In Black River, which Jamaican authorities described as the storm's "ground zero," up to 90% of structures lost their roofs after the hurricane made landfall just west of the town, according to The Associated Press. Towering bamboo stalks that once shaded the road into the seaside town now lay shredded across the highway, forcing soldiers to hack through with machetes to clear a path.

The storm struck Jamaica with sustained winds of 185 mph, tying records for the strongest Atlantic hurricanes to ever hit land in terms of both wind speed and pressure. U.S. forecaster AccuWeather said Melissa was the third most intense and slowest-moving hurricane ever recorded in the Caribbean.

At least 19 deaths were confirmed in Jamaica as of Friday, but local officials warned the number is likely to rise.

Dana Morris Dixon, Jamaica's minister of education and information, said recovery efforts continued, but many people remained unreachable.

"We have never had a Category 5 hurricane in our country. The devastation in the west is unimaginable," Dixon said, according to USA Today.

Among the worst-hit areas was the parish of St. Elizabeth, home to Black River. Local authorities reported that around 170 communities across six parishes suffered moderate to severe damage, with roads blocked by debris, landslides and collapsed buildings.

Vast portions of the island remain in darkness, with more than 60% of Jamaica still without electricity and nearly half of the country's water systems offline.

In Black River and surrounding districts, residents scrambled for food and clean water. With grocery stores shuttered and roads cut off, helicopters dropped supplies into isolated neighborhoods. Some residents carried relief goods in buckets and cardboard boxes on their heads, while others made repeated trips by bicycle and motorcycle under the sweltering sun.

The storm's damage extended across the Caribbean.

In Haiti, at least 31 deaths were confirmed and 20 people remained missing as of Friday, with most of the deaths concentrated in the southern region. In the coastal town of Petit-Goâve, where a river burst its banks, at least 23 people, including 10 children, died as floodwaters swept away homes. More than 15,800 Haitians remain in shelters.

Although Melissa's eye did not directly hit Cuba, its eastern provinces suffered severe losses after the storm made landfall there as a Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday. The Civil Defense reported more than 735,000 evacuations, with 241 communities in Santiago province still isolated and without communications. Damaged power lines, flooded roads and lost crops left many communities in crisis.

On Friday, the Evangelical aid organization Samaritan's Purse airlifted more than 38,000 pounds of relief supplies to Jamaica, including water filtration systems, solar lights and shelter materials. The North Carolina-based organization's disaster response team landed with an initial cargo of aid and planned a second flight Saturday with medical teams and equipment, the group said in a press release.

The organization is working with Jamaica's Ministry of Health and local churches to assess needs and distribute supplies. 

The Evangelical relief charity World Relief said it is providing aid to hundreds of households, giving families emergency survival kits, multipurpose cash assistance to help with recovery and psychosocial support to help families begin healing from trauma and loss.

As of Friday, Operation Blessing said it had at least two teams on the ground in Jamaica to assess the damage and distribute emergency relief supplies, clean water, and provide medical care.

Leaders from CityServe arrived in Jamaica on Thursday to assess the needs and coordinate the response. The group said it was rushing generators, tarps and other emergency relief supplies to affected communities, while U.S.-based teams are preparing additional cargo to ship in the coming days. 

"Incredible disasters necessitate incredible responses," CityServe Vice President Todd Lamphere said in a statement Friday. "We're so grateful to our amazing churches and partners for stepping up to bring life-saving care to the millions of people whose lives have been disrupted by this storm."

"Every hour that passes for a family without food and shelter brings pain and uncertainty," Lamphere added. "But as search and recovery efforts continue, our team will provide urgent relief and help many families begin rebuilding their lives. Our work will help restore Jamaica as quickly as possible."

Other organizations that have partners on the ground and are sending relief supplies after the storm include Barnabas Aid and Send Relief. 

Dozens of health facilities across Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti were severely impacted by the storm, with some rendered inoperable. In Jamaica, five hospitals resumed full operations by Thursday, but others, including Black River Hospital in St. Elizabeth, remained closed after sustaining structural damage, flooding, and a roof collapse, according to the Pan American Health Organization.

By Friday morning, Melissa had weakened into a post-tropical cyclone, passing about 150 miles northwest of Bermuda and heading northeast with sustained winds of 85 miles per hour. It is expected to weaken further, though heavy surf and life-threatening rip currents have been forecast for the U.S. East Coast and Atlantic Canada through the weekend.

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