People across the northern Caribbean were digging out from the destruction of Hurricane Melissa​ on Thursday as deaths from the catastrophic storm climbed.

Forecasters say Melissa is moving toward the north-northeast at around 21 mph and is expected to continue accelerating northeastward.

This morning I’ve been reviewing the latest satellite imagery from Jamaica which reveals the scale of devastation left behind by Hurricane Melissa, which killed four people as it ripped across the island yesterday.

People across the northern Caribbean are digging out from the destruction caused by Hurricane Melissa as deaths from the storm climbed.

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Cuba overnight after battering Jamaica as one of the most powerful landfalling storms in Atlantic basin history.

In Jamaica, 25,000 people crowded into shelters after the hurricane destroyed homes and left most of the island without power.

Hurricane Melissa is on track to pass through the southeastern islands of the Bahamas, which are sparsely populated compared to the islands in the north of the archipelago. The two islands that are in the storm’s direct path, Crooked Island and Long Island, have a total population of just a few thousand people.

Hurricane Melissa barreled into Jamaica on Tuesday as a Category 5 storm with some of the fastest winds and strongest intensities ever recorded. The storm blew through the Caribbean island’s southwestern coast,

The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, known as the “Hurricane Hunters,” captured stunning footage by flying through Hurricane Melissa to collect vital weather data.