Hurricane Melissa live updates: No official death toll in Jamaica

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."

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness posted videos to X on Wednesday showing the devastation wrought to western parts of the island by the passage of Hurricane Melissa.

In the St. James area in the northwest of Jamaica, Holness said, residents "suffered significant damage including severe flooding."

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