The normal soundtrack that accompanies Jamaican life is quiet this morning, as many have woken up without electricity.
About three-quarters of the island is without power and many parts of its western side are underwater, with homes destroyed by strong winds after Hurricane Melissa hit the island with catastrophic force.
As wind and rain lashed through the night, one local official said the destruction looked like “a scene from an apocalyptic movie.”
With communications paralyzed, the true magnitude of the disaster remains unknown. Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared the island a “disaster zone” on Tuesday night, warning of “devastating impacts” and “significant damage” to hospitals, homes and businesses.
Although no deaths have yet been confirmed, Montego Bay Mayor Richard Vernon told the BBC that his first task at dawn would be to “check if everyone is alive.”
Hurricane Melissa, the strongest storm to hit Jamaica in modern history, devastated the country on Tuesday, leaving behind a trail of ruins.
At its peak, the hurricane sustained winds of 185 mph (298 km/h), stronger than Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005 and killed 1,392 people.
“It looked like a scene from an apocalyptic movie,” a western Jamaica MP told Kingston-based journalist Kimone Francis of The Jamaica Gleaner.
Francis described the night as “stressful” and “intense,” marked by strong winds and incessant rain.
“You don’t have a connection. You can’t talk to the people you normally talk to,” he told the BBC World Service’s Newsday programme.
In all of Jamaica’s central parishes, Francis said, floodwaters rose to the roofs of two-story houses.
An anonymous woman told the BBC: “Water is coming through the roof of my house. I’m not well.”
While no deaths had been confirmed, Jamaica’s prime minister told CNN he feared “there would be some loss of life.” The damage, he said, was widespread and affected hospitals, schools, homes and businesses.
(BBC)
Local Government Minister Desmond Mckenzie said on Tuesday afternoon that the parish of St Elizabeth, in the south-west of the country, was “under water”, with at least three families trapped in their homes in the community of Black River.
“Rescue teams are having difficulty reaching them due to the dangerous conditions,” he said at a press conference.
Verna Genus was sheltering from the storm in her four-bedroom home in the village of Carlisle, St Elizabeth, when the hurricane ripped the tin roof off her home.
The 73-year-old vegetable farmer was at home with her children and grandson when the hurricane made landfall in the area.
Verna has lost communications due to downed power lines. But his sister, June Powell, who lives in the UK, spoke to the BBC about what happened.
“She was crying on the phone,” June said, adding, “You’re curled up inside and then you look up and the ceiling is gone. I’ve never heard her like that: she was crying, ‘We’re all done.'”
She anxiously waits for communication networks to be reestablished so she can talk to her sister.
St Elizabeth, known as the breadbasket of Jamaica, produces much of the island’s produce. With crops submerged and fields destroyed, many farmers will struggle to recover financially.
On the north coast, Montego Bay, the heart of Jamaica’s tourism industry and home to its main airport, will also take time to recover. This hurricane has put a hand on the neck of the Jamaican economy.
The city of Montego was split in two by the flooding, Mayor Vernon said. He told BBC Breakfast: “Once the wind died down we started to rain heavily and that has caused massive flooding across the city. One side of the city is now cut off from the other as the roads are inundated with flood water.”
His immediate concern, he added, was simple: “Check if everyone is alive.”
In rural Jamaica, the storm has left people shaken. Tamisha Lee, president of the Jamaica Network of Rural Women Producers, said: “Right now, what I’m seeing is heavy rain, strong winds, lots of things flying everywhere and trees uprooted. There’s no electricity. I feel anxious and tense. The damage will be enormous.”
Forecasters said Hurricane Melissa intensified at a speed rarely seen, and its rapid strengthening was driven by abnormally warm Caribbean waters, part of a broader trend linked to climate change.
By the time it hit Jamaica, the storm had reached Category 5, with gusts strong enough to rip roofs off concrete homes, uproot trees and snap power poles.
Health officials even issued a warning about crocodiles, warning that flooding could push the reptiles into residential areas.
For thousands of tourists trapped on the island, the storm brought terror and uncertainty.
(BBC)
“I’ve never heard anything like it,” said Pia Chevallier of Cambridge, who traveled to Jamaica with her 15-year-old son on Saturday.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live from his darkened hotel room, he said: “All the window panes and patio doors were vibrating. The doors sounded like they were slamming shut, even though they were closed. It was horrendous.”
He added: “There is debris everywhere: palm trees, coconuts, branches, everywhere. The big palm trees with all the roots are up. That’s how strong the winds have been.”
On the north coast, Wayne Gibson, a British tourist from Kent who was holidaying in Ocho Rios with his wife and two teenage daughters, told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that they were taking shelter in a community hall.
Kyle Holmes from Bolton, who was visiting Lucea in the northwest, described the hotel as “a disaster zone” and said he had no idea when they will be able to return home.
Hurricane Melissa had made landfall in Cuba early Wednesday morning, leaving Jamaica paralyzed and silent. Although it has since weakened to a Category 3 hurricane, it remains powerful with winds exceeding 200 km/h (124 mph).
Jamaica has a catastrophe bond – a type of insurance for the country – that is expected to get people back on their feet, but the question is what will be done in the meantime.
Additional information from Gabriela Pomeroy
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