Jamaica exposes power outages and destruction after Hurricane Melissa

The true extent of Hurricane Melissa is still being revealed in Jamaica.

Without power or phone connections, most countries are isolated and information flows out.

Three-quarters of the country was without electricity overnight, and the number of people injured or killed had not even begun to be counted.

Much of western Jamaica is underwater and homes have been destroyed by strong winds after a hurricane swept through the island.

As wind and rain lashed out overnight, one local official said the destruction resembled “a scene from an apocalyptic movie.”

With communications cut off, the true extent of the disaster is not yet known. Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared the island a ‘disaster area’ late on Tuesday, warning of ‘devastating impacts’ and ‘serious damage’ to hospitals, homes and businesses.

No deaths have yet been confirmed, but Montego Bay mayor Richard Vernon told the BBC his first task at dawn was “to make sure everyone is alive.”

Hurricane Melissa, the most powerful storm to hit Jamaica in modern history, tore through the country on Tuesday, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake.

At its peak, the hurricane produced winds of 185 mph (298 km/h). This is stronger than Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005 and killed 1,392 people.

There is talk of devastation. People shared scenes of roads turning into rivers, landslides on hillsides, roofs of buildings torn off, and palm trees being thrown around like toothpicks.

“It was like a scene from an apocalypse movie,” one western Jamaican lawmaker told Kingston-based journalist Kimone Francis of The Jamaica Gleaner.

Francis described the night as “stressful” and “intense” marked by constant downpours and rain.

“I’m disconnected. I can’t talk to the people I normally talk to,” she told the BBC World Service’s Newsday programme.

Francis said floodwaters reached the roofs of two-story homes across Jamaica’s central parishes.

An anonymous woman told the BBC: “The roof of the house is leaking. It’s not okay.”

No deaths have been confirmed, but Jamaica’s prime minister told CNN he was concerned “there will be some loss of life.” He said damage was extensive, including to hospitals, schools, homes and businesses.

Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie said the southwestern parish of St Elizabeth was “under water” on Tuesday afternoon, trapping at least three families in their homes in the Black River community.

“Rescue teams are struggling to reach them due to the dangerous situation,” he told a news conference.

Verna Genus was taking shelter from the storm in her four-bedroom home in the village of Carlisle, St. Elizabeth, when the hurricane tore the zinc roof off her home.

The 73-year-old vegetable farmer was at home with his son and grandchildren when the hurricane made landfall in the area.

Verna lost communications due to downed power lines. But her sister June Powell, who lives in the UK, told the BBC what happened.

“She was crying on the phone,” June said, adding, “She was curled up inside, and when she looked up, the roof was gone.” I have never seen her cry like that. She was crying, ‘We are done.’

She is anxiously waiting for the communication network to be restored so she can talk to her sister.

Known as Jamaica’s breadbasket, St Elizabeth produces most of the island’s agricultural products. With crops flooded and fields destroyed, many farmers will struggle to recover financially.

On the north coast, Montego Bay, the hub of Jamaica’s tourism industry and home to its main airport, will also take time to get back to normal. This hurricane has its hand on the throat of the Jamaican economy.

Vernon’s mayor said the city of Montego was split in two by the flooding. He told BBC Breakfast: “Once the winds died down it started to rain heavily, which caused massive flooding across the city. The flooding cut off one side of the city from the other as roads were submerged.”

His immediate concern was simple. “Make sure everyone is alive.”

In rural Jamaica, the storm left people shaken. Tamisha Lee, president of the Jamaica Rural Women Producers Network, said, “What we’re seeing right now is heavy rain, strong winds, lots of things flying everywhere, trees uprooted. We’re anxious and nervous because there’s no electricity. The damage is going to be huge.”

Hurricane Melissa has strengthened at an unusual rate, meteorologists said, and its rapid strengthening, fueled by unusually warm Caribbean waters, is part of a broader trend related to climate change.

When it hit Jamaica, the storm reached Category 5 intensity, with wind gusts fierce enough to tear the roofs off concrete homes, uproot trees and snap utility poles.

Health officials even issued a crocodile warning warning that flooding could push the reptiles into residential areas.

The storm brought fear and uncertainty to thousands of tourists trapped on the island.

“I’ve never heard anything like that,” said Pia Chevallier, from Cambridge, who traveled to Jamaica with her 15-year-old son on Saturday.

She told BBC Radio 5 Live from her dark hotel room: “The glass in the windows and the patio door was all vibrating. Even though the door was closed it sounded like it was slamming shut. It was horrible.”

She added: “There is debris everywhere – palm trees, coconuts, tree branches. There are big palm trees with fully grown roots sticking up. That’s how strong the wind was.”

On the north coast, Wayne Gibson, a British tourist from Kent who is holidaying in Ocho Rios with his wife and two daughters, told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that they were taking shelter in a communal hall.

Kyle Holmes, from Bolton, who visited Lucia in the North West, described the hotel as a ‘disaster zone’ and said he did not know when he would be able to return home.

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Cuba by early Wednesday morning, leaving Jamaica paralyzed and quiet. It has since weakened to a Category 3 hurricane, but has sustained winds of over 200 km/h (124 mph).

Jamaica has a disaster bond, a form of national insurance, that they hope will help people get back on their feet, but the question is what will be done in the meantime.

Additional reporting by Gabriela Pomeroy