Officials continue to assess the full extent of the devastation wrought by Melissa, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms ever to make landfall.

Saying "recovery cannot be left to chance," Edmund Bartlett said Jamaica's Ministry of Tourism has activated a Hurricane Melissa Recovery Task Force.

Hurricane Melissa— one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded—is now off Cuba’s eastern coast, after leaving a trail of destruction across the large island and its much smaller neighbor, Jamaica.

Jamaica aims to fully restore its tourism sector with the help of a recovery task force focusing on infrastructure and support for tourism workers.

Hurricane Melissa is now moving northeast from Cuba after hammering the island with powerful winds and rain. As the storm scrapes Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas with its destructive force, residents in low-lying and flood prone areas have been urged to evacuate ahead of a shelter-in-place order coming tonight.

Tulloch-Neil, a member of the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council, an organization working to build collaboration between Jamaicans worldwide, migrated from the Caribbean island over 30 years ago. She is one of about 9,300 Philadelphians who were born in Jamaica, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

In the wake of destruction caused by Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica, Caribbean immigration advocates in New York are urging United States (US) President Donald Trump to protect Jamaicans in New York by granting them Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

From his Donna’s Caribbean Restaurant in Margate, Karl Gordon was hungry for updates from Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa made landfall at about 1 p.m. Tuesday in New Hope.