Hurricane Melissa devastates Jamaica, leaves nation in ruins

Jamaicans are taking stock after Hurricane Melissa, the strongest storm to hit the island in modern history, tore through the country leaving a trail of devastation.

With much of the island still cut off by power and communication outages, information has been slow to emerge. Authorities confirmed the first fatalities more than 24 hours after landfall — the bodies of three men and one woman were found washed up in St Elizabeth Parish, local government minister Desmond McKenzie said.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who visited the area, described “images of destruction all around,” adding that “the damage is great, but we are going to devote all our energy to mount a strong recovery.”

According to the latest government briefing, three-quarters of the country remain without electricity.

Travelling west from Kingston, damage appeared limited at first, with uprooted trees and torn-down structures along the roadsides. But in central Jamaica, the true scale of destruction became apparent. The town of Mandeville, witnesses said, has been “flattened.” A petrol station was stripped of its roof and pumps, and debris littered the main road.

By early Wednesday, the storm had crossed into Cuba, bringing flooding and destruction, while in Haiti, at least 25 people were killed after a river burst its banks in Petit-Goave, according to local authorities.

At its peak, Hurricane Melissa packed sustained winds of 298 km/h (185 mph) — stronger than 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans and killed more than 1,300 people. The storm has since weakened to a Category 3 hurricane as it continues to move northward.