Hurricane Melissa death toll nears 50, mostly in Jamaica and Haiti, as it hurries toward Bermuda

The rumble of large machinery, whine of chain saws and chopping of machetes echoed through communities across the northern Caribbean as they dug out from the destruction of Hurricane Melissa and surveyed the damage it left behind.

The storm was being blamed for at least 45 deaths, mostly in Haiti and Jamaica. It also hit Cuba hard.

Melissa was over the open waters of the Atlantic racing toward the Bermuda vicinity early Friday packing 90 mph maximum sustained winds, the Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center said. A hurricane warning was in effect for the wealthy British territory.

But the agency said, "Gradual weakening is expected during the next couple of days, and Melissa is expected to become a post-tropical low by tonight."

In Jamaica, government workers and residents beg