Hurricane "Melissa" struck the Northern Caribbean with destructive power, leaving behind at least 29 victims and thousands of destroyed homes, before heading towards Bermuda with greater speed, local authorities and the US National Hurricane Center reported.
After hitting Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti, the storm moved over the open ocean, and on Thursday afternoon it was already about 970 kilometers southwest of Bermuda. Residents of the islands are bracing for a direct hit by the end of the day, said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Weeks, who urged the population to stay home and exercise "maximum caution."
According to the latest data, Haitian authorities have confirmed 25 deaths, including 10 children, mainly due to flooding in the coastal town of Petit-Goave, where a river overflowed and swept away dozens of homes. More than 12,000 people are in emergency shelters and more than 1,000 homes are flooded.
In Jamaica, where the hurricane made a direct hit on Tuesday with sustained winds of 300 km/h, "Melissa" was the strongest hurricane ever to hit the island.
The capital Kingston escaped the worst damage, and its airport reopened on Thursday after the storm moved away.
In Cuba, the hurricane left 241 towns cut off from the rest of the world in Santiago province, where more than 140,000 people are without power or communications.
Around 735,000 people have been evacuated from the eastern regions of the country in advance, local media reported.
In the Bahamas, authorities carried out one of the largest evacuations in their history - nearly 1,500 people were evacuated from threatened coastal areas.
According to the US National Hurricane Center, by 12:00 GMT the hurricane had weakened to a Category 2 with winds of up to 105 miles per hour (165 km/h), but is moving at an increasing speed to the northeast and will pass northwest of Bermuda later today.
The storm is expected to gradually weaken on Friday.
Bermuda authorities announced the closure of the Causeway, as well as the suspension of school classes and ferry traffic to avoid incidents.
According to AccuWeather forecasts, damage and economic losses from "Melissa" could reach $22 billion, and recovery could take a decade.
Meteorologists note that "Melissa" is the third most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Caribbean, and one of the slowest moving, making it particularly destructive.
Scientists have stressed that warming oceans due to greenhouse gas emissions are leading to more frequent and stronger tropical cyclones, and a number of Caribbean leaders have urged wealthy industrialized nations to compensate for the damage through financial aid and debt relief.