Hurricane Melissa is expected to weaken into an extratropical cyclone on Friday, Oct. 31, the National Hurricane Center said.

At least 19 people have died in Jamaica as a result of Hurricane Melissa, Information Minister Dana Morris Dixon says, as search and rescue efforts continue and authorities try to get aid to hard-hit areas. The hurricane, one of the most powerful to strike the Caribbean, also killed at least 30 people in Haiti, officials say.

The storm will hit Bermuda on Thursday afternoon or evening, after Jamaica faced the devastation from one of the most powerful storms ever recorded.

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

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Hurricane Hunters have spent the past week diving into the eye of Melissa — a storm of historic ferocity — to gather life-saving data. But the government shutdown means they aren’t getting a paycheck.

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in southwest Jamaica this week near the coastal town of Black River, which the government has described as “ground zero.”

Follow live updates on Hurricane Melissa as the death toll reaches 38 people. Recovery efforts are underway in Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

Parts of the Caribbean began surveying the damage caused by the deadly Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall in Jamaica as a powerful Category 5.