In the days leading up to landfall, Ms. Rampy said, the staff at Beaches Negril held regular town-hall-style meetings about the coming hurricane but otherwise maintained a sense of normalcy.

Hurricane Melissa bore down on the Bahamas October 29 after cutting a path of destruction through the Caribbean, leaving 30 people dead or missing in Haiti and parts of Jamaica and Cuba in ruins.

Officials across the region said they expected the death toll to rise as they continued to verify reported deaths and search for missing people.