The normal soundtrack that accompanies Jamaican life is silent this morning as many have woken up without electricity.
About three-quarters of the island is without power and many parts of the western side are underwater. Homes have been destroyed by high winds after Hurricane Melissa hit the island with catastrophic force.
As wind and rain raged through the night, a local official said the devastation looked like “the scene of an apocalypse movie.”
With communications paralyzed, the true extent of the disaster remains unknown. Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared the island a “disaster area” late on Tuesday, warning of “devastating consequences” 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 that everyone is still alive.”
In St. Catherine, trees had already been uprooted before the hurricane made landfall [Getty Images]
Hurricane Melissa, the strongest storm to hit Jamaica in modern history, tore through the country on Tuesday, leaving a trail of ruins in its wake.
At its peak, the hurricane had winds of 298 km/h (185 mph), stronger than Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005 and killed 1,392 people.
“It looked like the scene from an apocalypse movie,” an MP in western Jamaica told Kingston-based journalist Kimone Francis of The Jamaica Gleaner.
Francis described the night as “stressful” and “intense”, marked by brutal heavy winds and rain.
“You're disconnected. You can't talk to the people you normally talk to,” she told the BBC World Service's Newsday programme.
In Jamaica's central parishes, water rose to the roofs of two-story houses, Francis said.
An anonymous woman told the BBC: “Water is coming in through the roof of my house. I'm not well.”
Although no fatalities have been confirmed, Jamaica's prime minister told CNN he feared “some loss of life.” The damage, he said, was widespread, with hospitals, schools, homes and businesses affected.
[BBC]
Local Government Minister Desmond Mckenzie said on Tuesday afternoon that the southwestern parish of St Elizabeth was “underwater”, with at least three families trapped in their homes in the Black River community.
“Rescue teams are having difficulty reaching them due to the dangerous conditions,” he said at a news 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 greengrocer was in the house with her sons and grandchild when the hurricane made landfall in the area.
Verna has lost communication due to the power lines going down. But her British sister, June Powell, spoke to the BBC about what happened.
“She was crying on the phone,” June said, adding, “You're huddled inside and then you look up and the roof's gone. I've never heard her like that — she was wailing 'we're all done.'”
She waits anxiously for the communications networks to be restored so she can talk to her sister.
Known as the breadbasket of Jamaica, St Elizabeth produces much of the island's produce. With crops flooded and fields devastated, many farmers will struggle to recover financially.
People made preparations ahead of the storm's arrival, with preliminary winds damaging homes in Portmore on Monday [EPA]
On the north coast, Montego Bay – the heart of Jamaica's tourism industry and home to the main airport – will also need time to get back on its feet. This hurricane has put a hand around the neck of the Jamaican economy.
The city of Montego was split in two by floods, Mayor Vernon said. He told BBC Breakfast: “Once the winds died down we got a lot of heavy rain and that has led to massive flooding across the city. One side of the city is now cut off from the other because the roads are flooded.”
His immediate concern, he added, was simple: “Make sure 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 I see heavy rain, strong winds, lots of things flying around and uprooted trees. There is no electricity. I feel anxious and tense. The damage will be enormous.”
Meteorologists said Hurricane Melissa has been strengthening at a rate rarely seen, and that its rapid strengthening was fueled 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 strength, with gusts fierce enough to rip roofs off concrete houses, uproot trees and snap utility poles.
Health officials even issued a crocodile warning, warning that floodwaters could push the reptiles into residential areas.
For thousands of tourists stuck on the island, the storm brought terror and uncertainty.
[BBC]
“I've never heard anything like that,” said Pia Chevallier of Cambridge, who traveled to Jamaica with her 15-year-old son on Saturday.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live from her darkened hotel room, she said: “The glass in the windows and patio doors were all shaking. The doors sounded like they were slamming even though they were closed. It was horrible.”
She added: “There's debris everywhere: palm trees, coconuts, branches, everywhere. The big palm trees with all the roots are up. That's how strong the wind has 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 communal hall.
Kyle Holmes, from Bolton, who was visiting Lucea in the North West, described the hotel as “a disaster area” and said he had no idea when they would be able to get home.
Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Cuba early Wednesday morning, leaving Jamaica paralyzed and silent. Although the hurricane has since weakened to a Category 3 hurricane, it remains powerful with winds of more than 120 mph.
Jamaica has a catastrophe guarantee – a kind of insurance for the country – which will hopefully help people get back on their feet, but the question is what is done in the meantime.
Additional reporting by Gabriela Pomeroy
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