one of the strongest ever recorded, killed at least 28 people in Jamaica where it made landfall, according to the latest toll announced by Prime Minister Andrew Holness on social media.
“The Government of Jamaica is deeply saddened to confirm the death of 28 people as a result of the passage of Hurricane Melissa,” the prime minister wrote on Platform X.
The death toll is likely to rise. “Other information about possible victims is still in the process of being verified,” he added.
In all, Hurricane Melissa, , left nearly 60 dead as it tore through the Caribbean earlier this week.
Faced with the extent of the damage in western Jamaica, “the Secretary-General (of the United Nations) has underlined the importance of international assistance,” a statement from his spokesman said today.
“It calls for the mobilization of massive resources to deal with the loss and damage caused by the typhoon,” it added.
The UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has allocated 4 million dollars (3.4 million euros) so that “its services and the agencies with which it cooperates can rapidly strengthen humanitarian operations” on the Caribbean island, it is emphasized.
Hurricane Melissa, made more destructive by climate change, was the strongest to make landfall in 90 years when it hit Jamaica on Tuesday as a Category 5 hurricane, the highest on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with winds reaching nearly 300 kilometers per hour.
