The confirmed death toll from Hurricane Melissa rose to 49 on Thursday, official reports said, after the storm caused widespread devastation across the northern Caribbean and gained strength while moving past Bermuda in the North Atlantic.

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said flooding was likely to ease in the Bahamas, though high water levels could continue in Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti , and the nearby Dominican Republic. A study by Imperial College London found that the storm, among the strongest ever recorded, was made four times more likely due to human-induced climate change, as per an AFP report.

3. Jamaica’s military has called up reserve personnel to assist with relief and rescue efforts.

A woman walks amid debris of a damaged house after the passage of Hurricane Melissa i

See Full Page