Communities across the Caribbean on Nov. 1 were continuing to pick up the pieces left by the devastating and deadly former Hurricane Melissa, which walloped Jamaica as one of the strongest hurricanes to make landfall in Atlantic history and brought catastrophic flooding to several islands in the region.

Melissa made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane with winds of 185 mph in Jamaica on Oct. 28. It was the most powerful hurricane to ever strike the island nation, bringing torrential rains and damaging winds, which left hundreds of thousands without power, destroyed homes and scattered fields with debris. It next made landfall in Cuba as a Category 3 storm before going through the Bahamas and passing near Bermuda.

More than 50 deaths have been reported due to the storm in Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, including deaths in areas where Melissa did not strike directly but saw severe flooding from the slow-moving storm. That number could go up as authorities reach cut-off communities and confirm death reports.

"Every single life lost is a huge tragedy," said Dana Morris Dixon, Jamaican minister of education, skills, youth and information, at a news conference on Oct. 31. "We have never had a Category 5 hurricane in our country. The devastation in the west is unimaginable."

The storm, which dissipated to a post-tropical cyclone on Oct. 31, was passing by the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, early in the morning of Nov. 1, the Canadian weather service said.

Death toll rises to over 50 from ex-Hurricane Melissa

More than 50 deaths have been blamed on Melissa as of the morning of Nov. 1.

Dixon, the minister in Jamaica, said on Oct. 31 that 19 deaths have been confirmed there, but that number is expected to increase as authorities confirm additional reports of deaths.

At least 31 people were killed in Haiti, which wasn't hit directly by Melissa but which suffered extensive flooding and heavy rainfall for days. At least 23 of those deaths, including 10 children, were the result of flooding in the coastal town of Petit-Goâve, where a river burst its banks.

At least two deaths were reported in the Dominican Republic, including one person who died before the storm made landfall, according to the Pan American Health Organization.

Jamaica surveys Melissa's devastation: 'Apocalyptic'

On Oct. 31, authorities in Jamaica said they were working to deliver food and other aid to people devastated by Melissa and recover the bodies of additional people reported dead, using helicopters to reach areas with impassable roads. The country's works department had made some progress clearing thoroughfares, Dixon said.

Some 462,000 people remained without power, she said.

Desmond McKenzie, the country's minister of local government and community development, said communications were still knocked out in five parishes on Oct. 31. In Falmouth, the capital of the Trelawney Parish along the northwestern coast, "it is not a pretty reading," he said.

"The municipal building has been destroyed. The infirmary: destroyed. The roads and works department: destroyed. The courthouse: destroyed," McKenzie said.

"The situation on the ground is what can only be described as apocalyptic," World Food Programme Caribbean director Brian Bogart said at a news conference in Black River, Jamaica, near Melissa's landfall. "It appears as if a bomb has gone off in that community and people are still in shock."

Hospitals destroyed, health care workers traumatized in Jamaica

Jamaican health officials said the nation's health care system has been severely impacted in the storm. Five major hospitals had to halt or relocate many services after sustaining major damage, including one in St. Elizabeth that suffered a roof collapse, according to Christopher Tufton, the minister of health and wellness of Jamaica.

Health care workers who were on duty while the hurricane passed have been marooned in and in some cases cut off from their home communities, Tufton said.

"Health workers have been victims of this tragedy also," he said. "Some of them had to man their stations, not knowing what was happening to their homes, to their loved ones."

Hospitals that weren't as seriously impacted are seeing an influx of patients coming from areas with hospitals that are inoperable or seriously limited, Tufton said. As Jamaicans work to recover from the devastation and clean up damage, they are also coming into emergency departments with injuries from falls off roofs or ladders or nails penetrating their feet.

"They're really trying to pick up the pieces and in doing so, it’s creating some accidents," he said.

Tufton also put out a call for desperately needed blood donations and warned that officials are concerned about illnesses related to food contamination as people go without electricity and refrigeration. Also a concern: contaminated water and an increase of mosquitoes and rodents due to standing water.

Contributing: Dinah Voyles Pulver and Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY; Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hurricane Melissa death toll tops 50; 'apocalyptic' Caribbean damage. Updates.

Reporting by Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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