People across the northern Caribbean were digging out from the destruction of Hurricane Melissa Thursday as deaths from the catastrophic storm climbed and it made it moved over the Bahamas.

The rumble of large machinery, whine of chainsaws and chopping of machetes echoed throughout southeast Jamaica as government workers and residents began clearing roads in a push to reach isolated communities that sustained a direct hit from one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record .

Stunned residents wandered about, some staring at their roofless homes and waterlogged belongings strewn around them.

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

"The devastatio

See Full Page