Hurricane Melissa has claimed at least 20 lives in Haiti through devastating flooding, even though the storm never made direct landfall. Aid organizations are calling for donations.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami warned of "life-threatening and catastrophic flash flooding and landslides" throughout Hispaniola.

Watch a live view of Hurricane Melissa making landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday (28 October). The storm, which is the most powerful recorded this year, is expected to bring with it up to 40 inches of rain and “life-threatening storm surges” that could peak 13ft above ground level.

Hurricane Melissa has left dozens dead across the Caribbean, affecting a sister church of Dyersville's Basilica of St. Francis Xavier.

The rumble of large machinery, whine of chain saws and chopping of machetes echoed through communities across the northern Caribbean on Thursday as they dug out from the destruction of Hurricane Melissa and surveyed the damage left behind.

Bethlie Paul survived an earthquake in Haiti when she was 10. Over the next 15 years she made the most of her time.