This is an L.A. Times Studios podcast.

Hi, I'm Faith Pino, and you're listening to Headlines from L.A. Times Studios.

Here's some of today's top stories from the Los Angeles Times.

Hurricane Melissa ripped through the Caribbean this week,

leaving a deadly trail across Jamaica and Haiti.

According to reporters, the Category 5 storm made landfall in Jamaica Tuesday,

marking one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded.

There, at least 19 people are confirmed dead, with 31 more killed

in Haiti, while rescue crews search for the dozens of people that are still missing.

And in a town like Black River, which sits on the southwest coast of Jamaica, most homes

were destroyed. Officials are calling it ground zero, saying high winds ripped the roofs off of

90% of the buildings. Across the island, the storm snapped power lines, flooded streets, and

buried entire neighborhoods in debris, leaving many still without electricity or clean water.

Now soldiers are cutting through fallen bamboo and down trees to reopen critical

roads while helicopters drop food into isolated communities. And in Haiti, entire towns were washed out,

and more than 15,000 people are still in shelters. So far, Cuban officials report no deaths from Melissa, but the storm forced the evacuation of more than 700,000 people, inflicting similar damage on basic infrastructure and devastating farmers' crops.

Melissa's destruction comes just over a year after Hurricane Barrel battered Jamaica's southern coast, with many survivors

being forced to rebuild their lives for the second time.

And after nearly a week abroad, President Trump is calling on the Senate to scrap the filibuster

and reopen the government. According to reporters, the president's Thursday comments break with Republican

leaders who oppose the move. However, Trump says the choice is clear and urge lawmakers to use

the so-called, quote, nuclear option to end the month-long shutdown. Senate majority leader

...