US to provide $24 million for Caribbean countries hit by Hurricane Melissa

The United States is

providing $24 million in emergency assistance for Jamaica,

Haiti, the Bahamas and Cuba after the countries were hit by

Hurricane Melissa last week, the State Department said on

Tuesday.



The department deployed teams to help with the emergency

response and assess humanitarian needs after the Category 5

hurricane sowed widespread devastation, cut off communities and

killed at least 50 people across the Caribbean.



The Trump administration has now authorized $12 million of

assistance for Jamaica, $8.5 million for Haiti and $500,000 for

the Bahamas, the State Department said in a statement.



"Our teams on the ground have been assessing damage, and

we're going to announce additional assistance packages over the

coming days as they figure out where best to target it," a

senior State Department official said, adding that they expected

to announce additional aid for Jamaica and Haiti.