Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba were assessing the damage and beginning to dig out after they were slammed by Hurricane Melissa, which left dozens dead.

The Caribbean reels from one of its strongest storms, and relief efforts are slowed by impassable roads and disrupted infrastructure

Hurricane Melissa, now a weakened Category 1 storm, was rapidly moving north away Bermuda on Friday morning after battering the Caribbean over the past few days, forecasters said.

Hurricane Melissa has strengthened into a major Category 4 hurricane, with the possibility of intensifying to a Category 5 storm Sunday night, unleashing torrential rain and threatening to cause catastrophic flooding in the northern Caribbean,

Melissa began affecting the southeastern Bahamas on Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Authorities in the Bahamas were evacuating dozens of people from the archipelago’s southeast corner ahead of Melissa’s arrival as a Category 1 storm.

The hurricane that tore through the Caribbean this week broke records, rapidly intensifying and surprising some meteorologists.