Nearly 50 dead after Hurricane Melissa thrashes Caribbean

Hurricane Melissa was finally leaving the Caribbean Friday after battering communities there for days, leaving a trail of devastation that killed around 50 people.

The ferocious storm was expected to became a "powerful post-tropical cyclone" as it moved north, and a brief period of heavy rain and wind gusts was possible in eastern Canada, the US National Hurricane Center said in its latest and final advisory. Melissa smashed into both Jamaica and Cuba with enormous force, and residents were assessing their losses and the long road to recovery.