The aftermath of hurricane Melissa in Jamaica (PM Andrew Holness photo/Facebook)

(CNN) Hurricane Melissa is now crossing through The Bahamas, bringing heavy rain and damaging wind to some of the islands.

Meanwhile, Jamaica is starting recovery and restoration efforts. Officials in hard hit areas are describing a beyond-catastrophic level of damage.

Here’s the latest:

• Tracking the storm: Melissa is a Category 1 and is just off the coast of Long Island in the Bahamas, according to the National Hurricane Center. Winds, flooding rain and dangerous storm surge is expected to continue into early tomorrow morning.
• Death toll: Authorities in Jamaica have recovered four bodies St. Elizabeth Parish, a source in the government told CNN. Officials said previously three people died during storm preparations. At least 23 people have died in Haiti due to Hurricane Melissa, the country’s Civil Protection Agency said today, 10 of them were children. One person also died in the Dominican Republic.
• Surveying damage: Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness surveyed damage in the Parish of St. Elizabeth today. Images from the helicopter show damaged homes, torn-off roofs and debris littering an entire town. Richard Solomon is the mayor of Black River, a major town in the Parish. He said, “The conditions here are devastating, catastrophic is a mild term based on what we are observing here.”
• Challenges: A CNN crew observed residents and military personnel pushing more than a dozen ambulances past storm debris in the town of Santa Cruz as the medical convoy headed to a coastal area in western Jamaica. The roads in downtown Santa Cruz are covered with mud and silt, along with rubble. Several ambulances got stuck in mud.
• Restoration efforts: Jamaica Public Service, an energy utility company, is conducting a damage assessment of the power grid. About 77% of the country is currently without electricity, according to a government spokesperson.
• Aid: The US State Department said it was deploying a “regional disaster response team” and other resources across Caribbean countries. It has also stood up a task force to manage the US response, according to a senior State Department official. Other organizations and authorities also said they were mobilizing aid to send. Jamaica’s three international airports will reopen between today and Thursday for relief and commercial flights.

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