Parts of the Caribbean were slowly surveying the extensive damage caused by Hurricane Melissa on Thursday after the storm brought destruction to the region and left dozens of people dead.

Hurricane Melissa is making its way over the Bahamas after lashing Cuba and carving a deadly swath of destruction in Jamaica and Haiti.

Melissa was a Category 2 storm with sustained winds of 105 mph as of 7 a.m. Thursday and a hurricane warning was in effect in Bermuda. Melissa was 605 miles west of Bermuda, moving north-northeast at 21 mph. There is no threat to Louisiana or the Gulf Coast.

Hurricane Melissa made its second landfall early Wednesday morning near Chivirico, Cuba, as a Category 3 storm with winds of 120 mph.

The capitals and exclamation points are warranted. Hurricane Melissa is an extraordinary storm, even among the many massive, fast-growing, devastating cyclones that have been erupting in the Atlantic Ocean in recent years.

In Haiti, 25 people have died after a river burst its banks during Hurricane Melissa. The storm hit Jamaica yesterday, leaving 77% of the island without power. This morning, it swept across Cuba. The extent of the damage across the Caribbean is not yet known.