The scale of the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa is emerging, with dozens of people known to have died in Haiti and four deaths reported in Jamaica - and the storm is now approaching the Bahamas.

Hurricane Melissa is on track to pass through the southeastern islands of the Bahamas, which are sparsely populated compared to the islands in the north of the archipelago. The two islands that are in the storm’s direct path, Crooked Island and Long Island, have a total population of just a few thousand people.

Hurricane Melissa has caused severe flooding and storm surge in Cuba after leaving Jamaica with power outages and killing at least 40 people in Haiti

US forecasters say Hurricane Melissa will pass near or over Jamaica as a major storm early Tuesday, before moving toward Cuba later that night. It is then expected to track across the southeastern Bahamas on Wednesday.

The hurricane weakened to a Category 3 after carving a path of destruction across Jamaica. Limited communications there have left officials with only partial reports as they seek to assess the scale of the damage.