Emergency relief flights began landing at Jamaica’s main international airport, which reopened late Wednesday, as crews distributed water, food and other basic supplies.

Hurricane Melissa strengthened into a Category 5 storm early Monday, unleashing torrential rain and threatening to bring catastrophic flooding to the northern Caribbean.

The Caribbean reels from one of its strongest storms, and relief efforts are slowed by impassable roads and disrupted infrastructure

Officials say at least 25 people have died across Haiti. In Cuba, officials report collapsed houses and blocked roads, with 735,000 people in shelters. Jamaica faces widespread power outages and communication blackouts.

At least 26 people have been killed in Haiti and Jamaica as a result of Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall in Cuba on Wednesday. In Haiti, 25 people died, according to officials, The Associated Press reported. Jamaica has one confirmed death thus far.

People across the northern Caribbean are beginning to dig out from the destruction of Hurricane Melissa, as deaths from the catastrophic storm climbed to at least 28 across Haiti, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic,

The updates sent by friends and neighbors on WhatsApp confirmed what fisher Prince Davis already feared: Hurricane Melissa put a hole in the stern of his 50-foot (15-meter) fishin