By Dave Sherwood
PORT-AU-PRINCE/KINGSTON/HAVANA (Reuters) -Hurricane Melissa picked up speed as it churned across open ocean in the direction of Bermuda on Thursday, after wreaking destruction across much of the northern Caribbean, where local authorities have reported a total of nearly 30 deaths.
At 5 p.m. (2100 GMT), Melissa was a Category 1 storm 526 km (327 miles) south-west of the North Atlantic British island territory, where hurricane conditions were expected by nightfall even as Melissa's eye skirts north-west.
Melissa was packing maximum sustained winds of 105 mph (169 kph).
Residents remained calm as the storm was expected to give the island a relatively wide berth. Authorities said they would close its causeway Thursday night and shut schools and ferries on Friday "out of an abundance of caution."
In the Bahamas, which Melissa cut through overnight, authorities lifted storm warnings but did not give the "all clear". An official said authorities expected to decide by Saturday whether it was safe for the hundreds of people who evacuated off affected islands to return to their homes.
Melissa did not directly hit Haiti, but caused at least 25 deaths there, authorities said, mostly in the southern town of Petit-Goave when a river burst its banks after days of torrential rain.
A river also caved in and carried off part of a national highway, local newspaper Le Nouvelliste reported. The road, which had been weakened by last year's Hurricane Beryl, connected to the nearby city of Jacmel.
Melissa was the first major hurricane since 1988 to directly hit Jamaica, where authorities reported at least four deaths in the southwestern region where the hurricane struck land as a powerful Category 5 storm. Windspeeds were well above the minimum level for the strongest hurricane classification.
U.S. forecaster AccuWeather said Melissa was the third most-intense hurricane observed in the Caribbean, as well as its slowest-moving, compounding damages for affected areas.
Scientists say hurricanes are intensifying faster with greater frequency as a result of warming ocean waters caused by greenhouse gas emissions. Many Caribbean leaders have called on wealthy, heavy-polluting nations to provide reparations in the form of aid or debt relief.
Satellite imagery showed swaths of trees and homes devastated in the hardest-hit areas of Jamaica, sparse remaining greenery defoliated and most structures destroyed.
"I know many Jamaicans are concerned about their loved ones," Prime Minister Andrew Holness said in a video message from a helicopter as he headed to hard-hit Westmoreland parish.
Jamaica's military called on reserve personnel to report for duty ahead of deployments for relief and rescue operations.
Over 70% of electrical customers in Jamaica remained without power as of Thursday morning, said Energy Minister Daryl Vaz, with power lines felled across the island's roadways.
Many schools remained without power or water, officials in the capital Kingston said.
WADING BAREFOOT THROUGH MUD
The front page of Thursday's Jamaica Observer newspaper read: "DEVASTATION."
More than 130 roads remained blocked by trees, debris and electric lines, authorities said, forcing the military to clear roadways on foot into isolated areas, with ambulances following close behind.
One road in the hard-hit coastal town of Black River was swamped with more than four feet of sand stretching over a mile, officials said.
In a neighbourhood of the island's Montego Bay, 77-year-old Alfred Hines waded barefoot through thick mud and debris as he described his narrow escape from the rising floodwaters.
"At one stage, I see the water at my waist and (after) about 10 minutes time, I see it around my neck here and I make my escape," he told Reuters on Wednesday.
"I just want to forget it and things come back to normal."
Densely populated Kingston was spared the worst damage. Its main airport was set to reopen on Thursday, as was the capital's port. Relief flights and aid had begun to flow into Jamaica's airports, authorities said.
In western parts of the island, people crowded by supermarkets and gas stations to fill up on supplies.
"Montego Bay hasn't got any petrol. Most of the petrol stations are down," British tourist Chevelle Fitzgerald told Reuters, adding it took her at least six hours to cross the 174 km (108 miles) to Jamaica's capital.
"The highway was closed. You had some blockage on the road and trees falling down," she said.
U.S. search and rescue teams were headed for Jamaica on Thursday to assist in recovery efforts, Jamaican authorities said. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. was prepared to offer "immediate humanitarian aid" to the people of Cuba, a long-time U.S. foe.
Authorities in Cuba - which Melissa struck in the night as a Category 3 storm - said they were "awaiting clarification on how and in what way they are willing to assist."
At least 241 Cuban communities remained isolated and without communications on Wednesday following the storm's passage across Santiago province, according to preliminary media reports, affecting as many as 140,000 residents.
Residents of Santiago, Cuba's second-largest city, began returning to repair their homes.
Authorities had evacuated 735,000 people to shelters outside the hurricane's cone and relocated tourists in northern cays to inland hotels. Cuba reported substantial infrastructure and crop damage but no loss of life as of midday Thursday.
(Reporting by Sarah Morland and Brendan O'Boyle in Mexico City, Zahra Burton in Kingston, Steven Aristil in Port-au-Prince, Herbert Villarraga in Les Cayes, Maria Alejandra Cardona in St. Elizabeth's Parish, Don Burgess in Hamilton and Dave Sherwood in Havana; Writing by Andrew Heavens; Editing by Timothy Heritage, Deepa Babington and David Gregorio)
