Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba pick up pieces after destruction wrought by Melissa

The church of Lacovia Tombstone in Jamaica in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa (Matias Delacroix/AP)

People across the northern Caribbean were digging out from the destruction of Hurricane Melissa on Thursday, as deaths from the catastrophic storm climbed.

The rumble of large machinery, whine of chainsaws and chopping of machetes echoed throughout southeast Jamaica as government workers and residents began clearing roads in a push to reach isolated communities that sustained a direct hit from one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record.