At least 20 people have died in Haiti in flooding caused by Hurricane Melissa
The hurricane made landfall on Tuesday as a category five storm in Jamaica, where people remain stuck on roofs and without power
King Charles says he is "profoundly saddened" by the damage across the Caribbean, adding his "anxious thoughts" were with those affected
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness vows to devote 'all our energy' to a strong recovery, while our correspondent in Kingston, Nick Davis, reports floods, mudslides, and "palm trees tossed like toothpicks"
From Jamaica, the storm travelled north to Cuba, bringing with it 115mph winds and heavy rain, with one man telling us: "It sounded like a tornado. I was awake all night"
The hurricane is now moving north east towards The Bahamas, where a dangerous storm surge is expected tonight, and then Bermuda
Are you in the path of the hurricane? Get in touch via email, external or WhatsApp +44 7756 165803, external
Edited by Oliver O'Connell and Jemma Crew, with reporting from Nick Davis in Jamaica
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness has just provided an update from St Elizabeth parish, where he says there are "images of destruction all around".
"The damage is great, but we are going to devote all our energy to mount a strong recovery," he says.
Holness says he's doing an aerial tour of the worst affected areas to get a sense of the damage.
"We are acting quickly to assess the damage and bring relief," he said in a separate post on X.
We've just received a statement from the Pentagon's Southern Command on its response to Hurricane Melissa.
"As a preparatory measure, we have initiated planning to deploy a situational assessment team that will be tasked with evaluating the conditions in hurricane-stricken areas and the unique requirements needed for timely and effective life-saving, urgent humanitarian aid, and disaster response operations," a spokesperson says.
Future decisions on US support will be based on those assessments, the spokesperson adds, adding "it is still too soon to speculate on what that support will consist of".
Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the White House was in close contact with governments in the Caribbean. 
Gabriela Pomeroy
Live reporter
Many houses have been destroyed in the town of Black River in St Elizabeth Parish, one of the worst-hit areas. The residents are still out of contact as the phone lines aren't working.
But we’re starting to hear reports about the people who lost their homes, via their neighbours and relatives.
I’ve spoken by phone to Gordon Swaby, a businessman in Kingston, who says he is "heartbroken" that his first cousin's house was "completely destroyed in the hurricane".
He says his cousin – who he doesn't want to name – recently moved from the United States to her "dream" house by the sea in the upscale Crane Road area.
Now she has lost everything, he says.
"The entire concrete structure and everything in it, taken by the sea."
Gordon says he doesn’t have the full details of what happened but he believes it was "destroyed in a storm surge” as he understands from the neighbour that the house was washed away.
A neighbour reported that the home was gone. She was able to pass the information to Gordon’s mother, who told him what happened.
“She wanted a different kind of life," Gordon says. "She chose the area because she loves the sea, so this is really devastating.”
We can now bring you a new update from Haiti, where earlier it was reported by the AFP news agency that 20 people, including 10 children, had died in flooding.
The Associated Press is now reporting that the death toll on the island has risen to 40, citing an official from Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency.
As a reminder, Haiti has experienced flash flooding in the wake of Hurricane Melissa.
With rain slowly clearing, we're getting a clearer sense of the damage Hurricane Melissa has inflicted on towns as it barrelled across Jamaica.
In the above drone photo, from Alligator Pond, on Jamaica's southern coast, we can see debris littered across the beach and trees uprooted.
Elsewhere, drone footage from St Elizabeth, in southwestern Jamaica, shows a building with a ripped-out roof.
Brandon Drenon
Reporting Miami, Florida
Hurricane Melissa is the first major storm 14-year-old Alexander Medley has experienced
When Alexander Medley first heard about Hurricane Melissa's pending arrival, it was on the radio inside his mum’s car on his way home from school.
“I wasn’t really thinking it was going to hit Jamaica, because there’s always lots of systems in the Caribbean during hurricane season,” the 14-year-old says. “Barely any of them, from my experience, actually hit us.”
But as the days drew closer, the situation became clear: “It started heading straight for us," he says.
“I remember I was in my bed and just wind, crazy amounts of wind, high speed, just crashing against my window,” Medley says. “You could hear huge branches falling into the backyard and onto the roof."
Then, the flood waters began to rise. “It was going to come in through underneath the door and through the window,” he says.
Medley quickly began packing old clothes around windowsills and beneath doors to try to stop the water. But some came through, leaving large water-filled bubbles under the paint.
Compared to what he has heard of others on the island, he reckons that it could have been worse.
"It’s a learning experience,” Medley says. “If this is going to be an every year thing then it’s just something we’ll have to get used to."
King Charles has issued a statement in the last few moments saying he is "deeply concerned" and "profoundly saddened" at the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica and across the Caribbean.
"As we continue to follow the situation closely, our anxious thoughts are with all those who have been so cruelly affected by this awful storm."
He also refers to his admiration for those who have responded "courageously", including the emergency services, frontline workers and volunteers.
"This most dreadful of record-breaking storms reminds us of the increasingly urgent need to restore the balance and harmony of Nature for the sake of all those whose lives and livelihoods may have been shattered by this heartbreaking disaster."
Nick Davis
Reporting from Jamaica
We’ve spent the day on the road. When we were leaving Kingston, we saw minimal damage, some structures torn down, trees strewn across roads and gardens.
However, it wasn’t until we went into central Jamaica that we started to see how severely the island was hit.
By the time we got to Mandeville we could see the place was, for want of a better word, flattened.
There was what I assume was a petrol station, but when we saw it, the roof was gone and so were most of the pumps.
The main road that runs through the town is littered in debris, foliage is stuck to everything and bits of building material were scattered along the road.
Right now is the rapid assessment phase – the government will be wanting to get critical infrastructure back up.
Communications are improving here, but in the far west, where the storm left a wake of devastation, the clean up will take weeks if not months.
Drone footage has captured dramatic scenes of flooding in Jamaica's southwestern parish of St Elizabeth
"It's going to be a long road back," Andrew Houston Moncure a resident on the southwest coast of Jamaica tells the AFP news agency.
Andrew Houston Moncure sheltered with his wife and young son in a luxury hotel he owns in Bluefields when Hurricane Melissa made landfall on Tuesday.
"It was the most terrifying experience, especially with my son. The pressure is so low you struggle to breathe, and it just sounds like a freight train going over you," he tells AFP.
The roof blew off the hotel, but Moncure says "we are the lucky ones" – referencing houses that have collapsed not far away from where he was sheltering.
Separately, Christopher Hacker who owns a restaurant in the hills of western Jamaica tells the agency today "everything is gone".
"It will take a lot to recover from this," he says.
A new update from the US National Hurricane Center spells out that "damaging winds, flooding rains and a dangerous storm surge" are anticipated in The Bahamas tonight and in Cuba this afternoon.
A hurricane warning remains in place for areas including Bermuda, while a tropical storm warning is in place for the Turks and Caicos Islands among others.
Melissa is currently travelling at a speed of 15mph (24km/h) – an increase on earlier. It is still expected to accelerate in the coming days.
Darren Bett
BBC weather presenter
Hurricane Melissa is now offshore of east Cuba. With sustained winds of 100mph (160km/h), it means Melissa is a category two hurricane.
The storm is now moving at about 15mph (24km/h) and may continue to accelerate.
After leaving The Bahamas on Wednesday night, Melissa will then head towards Bermuda. Hurricane strength winds and heavy rain will begin in Bermuda late on Thursday and continue overnight.
After that, Melissa is not expected to make landfall in North America, but will still be a formidable extratropical cyclone when it nears St Johns, Newfoundland, on Friday night.
Jamaica's prime minister has just given an update on X, external and says there are no confirmed reports of deaths on the island so far.
Andrew Holness also says the government will support the affected communities.
"We know many of you are hurting, uncertain, and anxious after Hurricane Melissa, but please know that you are not alone."
He goes on to say that "recovery will take time, but the Government is fully mobilized."
"Relief supplies are being prepared, and we are doing everything possible to restore normalcy quickly."
The hurricane has now passed Cuba after landing in the east this morning.
Details are still emerging about the extent of the damage there but we are starting to get photos from Santiago de Cuba which show flood water filling the streets.Gabriela Pomeroy
Live reporter
Cuban journalist Luis de Jesus has been on the ground in Santiago de Cuba where the hurricane made landfall overnight.
"Being in the middle of a hurricane is powerful and you hear all sorts of sounds," he tells me from eastern Cuba. "I tried to sleep but it was hard."
The force of the winds broke the windows in his hotel and some of the doors.
"I went out this morning to assess the damage," he says, "and found trees have fallen down, electricity cables are down, and some damaged buildings."
But people are relieved that no deaths have been reported and now the focus is on cleaning up the debris in the town.
As the relief effort continues, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the White House is in close contact with the governments of Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic and the Bahamas as they assess the damage and impacts of Hurricane Melissa.
"We have rescue and response teams heading to affected areas along with critical lifesaving supplies," Rubio says on social media.
"Our prayers are with the people of the Caribbean."Brandon Drenon
Reporting from Miami, Florida
Andre Palmer has been sheltering in place at his home in south-eastern Kingston since Saturday, prepared for the worst.
Although the brunt of the damage from the storm has missed him, he still considers it “the most intense hurricane I’ve ever experienced”.
“For about 16 hours, there was just this intense wind and lots of rain that just kept beating on the house and windows and doors. Debris was flying in the wind. It was actually quite intense,” he says.
Palmer says he’s been without electricity and running water since Tuesday morning, and was only able to speak to me because he charged his phone in his car earlier.
He’s unsure of when internet, electricity and water will be restored. “Right now, it’s really a wait and see game,” he says.
He’s also waiting to find out the condition of his family in west Jamaica, in an area officials have described as “devastated”.
“I haven’t heard from them this since around (17:00 EST) yesterday”, Palmer says, adding that, when trying to reach them on Wednesday, “calls are going directly to voicemail”.
We're starting to see the first images of destruction in Jamaica
Storm movement
Impact
What next?
More images are emerging of the damage wrought by Hurricane Melissa on Jamaica. This drone shot of Alligator Pond on the south west of the island shows the structural impact of the category five storm.
Fishing is a crucial part of the Jamaican economy but it has been severely hit by the extreme conditions.
As we've been reporting, Hurricane Melissa hit Cuba with wind speeds of 115mph (185km/h) and heavy rain that also brought "life-threatening" storm surges.
Santiago de Cuba, in the south east of the island, is among the worst hit areas – as you can see from the pictures below.
A fallen tree on Tuesday before Hurricane Melissa made landfall on Jamaica
It's too early to know the full impact of Hurricane Melissa, but initial details of the damage – as we heard in a briefing a short while ago – are beginning to come to light, particularly through the help of voices on the ground.
Our reporters and correspondents are continuing to reach out to people impacted by Hurricane Melissa, but if you would like to get in touch, and it is safe to do so, you can reach us here.
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