Hurricane Melissa dissipates, leaving at least 50 dead and destruction across Caribbean

Residents amid debris in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa in Black River, Jamaica, on Thursday. Melissa was the most powerful storm ever to directly hit Jamaica.

Melissa, one of the strongest storms on record to make landfall in the Caribbean, began to dissipate on Friday after sowing devastation across much of Jamaica, cutting off communities in Cuba, drenching Haiti and leaving at least 50 dead.

Melissa was the most powerful storm ever to directly hit Jamaica, and the first major hurricane to do so since 1988. U.S. forecaster AccuWeather estimated US$48-billion to US$52-billion in damage and economic loss across the western Caribbean.

Melissa pounded southwestern Jamaica on Tuesday as a powerful Category 5 hurricane, well above minimum wind speeds for the strongest hurricane classif