• Jean Bertrand Subreme, mayor of Petit-Goave, told The Associated Press that 25 people died after La Digue river burst its banks and flooded nearby homes on Wednesday.
• Hurricane Melissa churned with 105 mph top sustained winds and intense rain that forecasters warned could cause life-threatening flooding, landslides, and a 12-foot surge in Haiti, Cuba, and Turks and Caicos.
• Dozens of homes collapsed in Petit-Goave, trapping people under rubble Wednesday morning, while landslides blocked main roads and only one Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency official remained amid heavy floodwaters.
• The U.S. government said it is deploying a disaster response team and search-and-rescue personnel, while the State Department authorized non-emergency personnel to leave Jamaica and hopes to reopen airports by Thursday.
• In Jamaica, more than 25,000 people were packed into shelters on Wednesday, while more than 700,000 were evacuated and about 735,000 remained in shelters in Cuba.

People across the northern Caribbean were digging out from the destruction of Hurricane Melissa on Thursday as deaths from the catastrophic storm climbed.

The storm has a confirmed death toll of at least 27, mostly in Haiti where flash flooding overtopped a river and submerged a community, killing 20, including 10 children, Haiti’s Office of Civil Protection confirmed to the Miami Herald.

That’s on top of the three deaths previously reported in Haiti ahead of Melissa’s landfall and another confirmed in the Dominican Republic, as well as three in Jamaica.

Emergency relief in Jamaica

The rumble of large machinery, whine of chainsaws and chopping of machetes echoed throughout southeast Jamaica as government workers and residents began clearing roads in a push to reach isolated communities that sustained a direct hit from one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record.

Stunned residents wandered about, some staring at their roofless homes and waterlogged belongings strewn around.

“I don’t have a house now,” said a distressed 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, food and other basic supplies.

“The devastation is enormous,” Jamaican Transportation Minister Daryl Vaz said.

Some Jamaicans wondered where they would live.

“I am now homeless, but I have to be hopeful because I have life,” said Sheryl Smith, who lost the roof of her home.

Authorities said they have found at least four bodies in southwest Jamaica.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness said up to 90% of roofs in the southwest coastal community of Black River were destroyed

“Black River is what you would describe as ground zero,” he said. “The people are still coming to grips with the destruction.”

More than 25,000 people remained crowded into shelters across the western half of Jamaica, with 77% of the island without power.

Death and flooding in Haiti

Melissa also unleashed catastrophic flooding in Haiti, where at least 25 people were reported killed and 18 others missing, mostly in the country’s southern region.

Steven Guadard, who lives in Petit-Goâve, said Melissa killed his entire family.

“I had four children at home: a 1-month-old baby, a 7-year-old, an 8-year-old and another who was about to turn 4,” he said.

Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency said Hurricane Melissa killed at least 20 people in Petit-Goâve, including 10 children. It also damaged more than 160 homes and destroyed 80 others.

Officials warned that 152 disabled people in Haiti’s southern region required emergency food assistance. More than 11,600 people remained sheltered in Haiti because of the storm.

“It is a sad moment for the country,” said Laurent Saint-Cyr, president of Haiti’s transitional presidential council.

He said officials expect the death toll to rise and noted that the government is mobilizing all its resources to search for people and provide emergency relief.

Slow recovery in Cuba

Meanwhile, in Cuba, people began to clear blocked roads and highways with heavy equipment and even enlisted the help of the military, which rescued people trapped in isolated communities and at risk from landslides.

No fatalities were reported after the Civil Defense evacuated more than 735,000 people across eastern Cuba. They slowly were starting to return home.

The small, iconic town of El Cobre in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba was one of the hardest hit by Hurricane Melissa

Home to some 7,000 people, it is also the site of the Basilica of Our Lady of Charity, patron saint of Cuba and deeply venerated by Catholics and practitioners of Santería, the Afro-Cuban religion.

“We went through this very badly. So much wind, so much wind. Zinc roofs were torn off, some houses completely collapsed. It was a disaster,” said Odalys Ojeda, a 61-year-old retiree, as she looked up at the sky from her living room where the roofing and other parts of the house were ripped off.

Even the Basilica was damaged.

“Here at the sanctuary, the carpentry, stained glass and even the masonry suffered extensive damage,” Father Rogelio Dean Puerta said. “The town was also badly affected. Many people lost their homes and belongings. We need help

A historic storm

When Melissa came ashore in Jamaica as a Category 5 hurricane with top winds of 185 mph on Tuesday, it tied strength records for Atlantic hurricanes making landfall, both in wind speed and barometric pressure. It was still a Category 3 hurricane when it made landfall again in eastern Cuba early Wednesday.

A hurricane warning remained in effect Thursday for Bermuda. An earlier warning for the central and southeastern Bahamas was lifted but the U.S. weather agency warned of additional rainfall up to 10 inches.

Hurricane conditions were expected to continue through the morning in the southeastern Bahamas, where dozens of people were evacuated.

Melissa was a Category 2 storm with top sustained winds near 105 mph Thursday morning and was moving north-northeast at 21 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Melissa was forecast to pass near or to the west of Bermuda late Thursday and may strengthen further before weakening Friday.