People across the northern Caribbean were digging out from the destruction of Hurricane Melissa on Thursday as deaths from the catastrophic storm climbed.

Hurricane Melissa made landfall over eastern Cuba early Wednesday as an "extremely dangerous" Category 3 storm, forecasters said, after pummeling Jamaica.

Hurricane Melissa has caused devastating flooding in Haiti, leading to at least 20 deaths on the island. Many homes have been washed away in the floodwaters and people have been clearing debris with their bare hands, Pascal Bimenyimana from the World Relief NGO says.

Hurricane Melissa struck the western part of Jamaica the hardest, leaving widespread destruction, officials said. Black River Hospital on the southwest side of the island has been devastated and several other hospitals suffered damage, Desmond McKenzie, the minister of Local Government and Community Development, said.

CBS News Miami has been in touch with families living through the aftermath, including Marvin Edwards, who rode out the hurricane in Montego Bay.

Melissa killed dozens in Haiti when a river burst its banks and left tens of thousands without electricity in Jamaica.

FOX Weather correspondent Robert Ray has documented the destruction from Hurricane Melissa in the Jamaica home he and his team are staying, sharing a tour of the damaged property on social media.

In southwestern Jamaica, the parish of St. Elizabeth was left "underwater," an official said, with more than 500,000 residents without power.

At least two people in the town died, and its historical buildings were reduced to rubble. Black River on Wednesday was unrecognizable to people there: The coastline was strewed with massive boulders, and a cellphone tower had twisted into a semicircle.

As communities continue to grapple with recovering from Hurricane Melissa, here's how people can support those who have been impacted by the storm.