Hurricane Melissa pummeled areas of the Caribbean already vulnerable to landslides and flash flooding because of factors made worse by decades of deforestation, with risks likely to continue for days as bands of rain pass through, experts said. Those risks are compounded by loss of trees and other vegetation that help hold soil in place and slow runoff, as well as the development of roads in forested areas, experts said. The full extent of the destruction wasn’t clear Thursday morning. In