Hurricane Melissa live updates: No official death toll in Jamaica

The State Department is deploying several dozen disaster relief workers, including urban search and rescue teams, to Caribbean countries hard-hit by Hurricane Melissa, officials said Wednesday.

The teams are expected to arrive in Jamaica, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic and Haiti within the next 24 hours, senior officials with the State Department said. They include dozens of personnel from Washington and regional hubs in Miami and Costa Rica.

The State Department has also asked the U.S. military to assist with the disaster relief efforts, a U.S. official said. The mission would likely include airlifts of food, water and other supplies to remote areas of Jamaica, the official said.

The military's Honduras-based Joint Task Force-Bravo is on standby to help, per another U.S. official. FEMA will also have a role in the response management team, the official said.

-ABC News' Mariam Khan

Hurricane Melissa has largely impacted the eastern part of Cuba, with preliminary assessments indicating significant damage in the Santiago de Cuba province, officials said.

Fallen trees, collapsed power lines and roof damage to homes and state government buildings have been reported, according to Jorge Luis Broche, the first secretary of the Communist Party in Santiago de Cuba.

As of midday Wednesday, no injuries or deaths had been reported in the province, which is located in the southeastern part of the island nation, Broche said.

The full extent of damage will be determined during the recovery phase, he said.

-ABC News' Mara Valdes

Relief flights began Wednesday afternoon at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica, officials said.

Commercial flights are expected to begin again at the airport, which did not sustain serious damage, starting at 7 a.m. Thursday local time, according to Jamaica's transportation minister.

The Ian Fleming International Airport in northern Jamaica is also expected to reopen to commercial flights at 7 a.m. Thursday, the official said.

The airport in Montego Bay sustained damage in the storm and it is unclear when it will reopen to commercial flights, the official said. The airport will open to relief flights starting on Thursday.

Hurricane Melissa is now a Category 1 with winds up to 90 mph as it is starting to accelerate northeastward over the central Bahamas.

Damaging winds, flooding rain and a dangerous storm surge will continue in parts of the Bahamas through Wednesday night.

A hurricane warning remains in effect for the southern and central Bahamas, as well as Bermuda.

Up to 10 inches of rain and up to 7 feet of storm surge are possible for the Bahamas on Wednesday night. Bermuda could see brief hurricane conditions by Thursday night.

Melissa is then expected to be out to sea by Friday.

-ABC News' Melissa Griffin