Hurrricane Sandy Leaves Caribbean Battered But Not Broken

As Hurricane Sandy bears down on the northeast, in the Caribbean at least 69 deaths were recorded.

Although Haiti was not directly in the storm’s path, torrential rains caused severe flooding, resulting in 52 deaths as of Monday.

The impoverished country is still recovering from the impact of the 2010 earthquake, which displaced hundreds of thousands of people into temporary shelters that have been unable to cope with the extreme weather.

In the neighboring Dominican Republic, two men were reported drowned in flooding.

Puerto Rico avoided the brunt of the storm, but experienced heavy rains and flooding, resulting in one death.

Cuba, whose eastern region suffered a direct hit from Sandy, reported 11 deaths and damage to over 130,000 homes and the destruction of 15,000 more, according to the Associated Press.

In Jamaica, one man was killed four days ago when high winds sent a boulder rolling through his home and crushed him. Nearly the entire island was steeped in darkness as the eye of the storm passed through taking out most of its electrical power.

The Bahamas were also hit as the storm approached last Thursday, killing two people.