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

WASHINGTON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - 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.