More than 490,000 customers are without power in Jamaica, accounting for 72% of customers, according to Minister of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport Daryl Vaz.

Several parishes, including St. Elizabeth, Westmoreland and Hanover are completely without power, Vaz said

The Jamaica Defence Force is cutting its way to areas in the western parts of the island by foot, officials said.

The JDF is also working to airlift patients out of hard-hit areas.

Officials said clearing roadways has been very difficult with trees, mud and up to 4 feet of sand blocking roads across the island.

-ABC News’ Othon Leyva

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that the U.S. stands ready to offer immediate humanitarian assistance to the Cuban people. Initially, the U.S. excluded Cuba from the list of countries it was helping with Hurricane Melissa relief efforts.

Melissa, now a Category 2 hurricane, has passed the Bahamas and is moving northeast over open waters.

Melissa will gain speed before passing west of Bermuda on Thursday night as a Category 1 or 2 hurricane.

Hurricane-force winds are possible, prompting a hurricane warning for Bermuda. But only 1 inch of rain is expected.

Melissa won’t make any other landfalls.

On Friday night, Melissa’s remnants could bring wind and rain to Newfoundland, Canada.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel told a meeting of the country's National Defense Council on Wednesday that no fatalities related to Hurricane Melissa had so far been recorded on the island.

"We are alive, our triumph is life itself," Diaz-Canel told the council, as quoted in a readout published by the president's office.

"That the population of the eastern provinces has withstood, without loss of life so far, the brutal onslaught of the monstrous hurricane is no miracle," he said. "The hardest task -- recovery -- is about to begin."