Satellite imagery reveals true extent of Hurricane Melissa’s force in Jamaica as storm kills dozens
Heartbreaking new photos have shown the extensive damage left behind by Hurricane Melissa, as the storm slams into another popular tourist island in the Caribbean.
A devastating trail of destruction has been left behind in Jamaica by Hurricane Melissa, the “storm of the century”, which has claimed dozens of lives so far.
Satellite imagery showed the true extent of the mega storm’s damage, with once turquoise waters discoloured, lush, green landscapes turned brown and many houses flattened.
Many other buildings on the Caribbean island nation have also been damaged, with at least 77 per cent of the population without electricity.
Other photos from the ground showed roads had been ripped up and debris, such as roofs and mud, littering the streets of numerous towns.
Officials in the badly hit St Elizabeth Parish of Jamaica said “catastrophic is a mild term for what we are observing here”.
Four people have been found dead so far in that area, while three others were killed during preparation for one of the Atlantic’s strongest hurricanes on record.
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After Jamaica, the storm is headed south east to Cuba as one of the biggest storms ever seen in the Atlantic continues to cause havoc.
The Bahamas was also struck by Melissa on Wednesday night (local time), bringing heavy rain and damaging wind to some of its islands.
Haiti and The Dominican Republic were also hit before Jamaica.
More than 20 people have died in Haiti when a river burst its banks.
Melissa has significantly downgraded to a category 1 storm when it hit The Bahamas.
King Charles III, who is the head of state of Jamaica, said on Wednesday that the destruction caused by Melissa is “heartbreaking”.
In a message on social media, the king said he and Queen Camilla were “profoundly saddened to see the catastrophic damage caused by the ferocity of Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica and across the Caribbean”.
“This most dreadful of record-breaking storms reminds us of the increasingly urgent need to restore the balance and harmony of Nature for the sake of all those whose lives and livelihoods may have been shattered by this heartbreaking disaster,” he said.
One of at least four people who died in Jamaica was a girl, authorities have said, after a tree fell on her house.
In Haiti, poverty stricken and without proper government control, 30 are feared dead. With a number of deaths in the Dominican Republic it’s thought at least 36 people are known to have perished thus far.
Cubans, meanwhile, waded through flooded, debris-strewn streets in Melissa’s wake wit the major city of Santiago de Cuba heavily affected.
“It has been a very difficult early morning,” Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on social media, citing “extensive damage”.
Residents in Cuba’s east struggled through flooded and collapsed homes and inundated streets, with windows smashed, power cables downed and roofs and tree branches torn off amid intense winds.
Some carried loved ones unable to walk for themselves and arms full of quickly gathered belongings.
Hurricane Melissa hit Cuba with maximum sustained winds of 195km/h, according to the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC), which urged residents to “remain sheltered” even as the storm left the island headed north.
“In the Bahamas, residents should remain sheltered,” the centre warned, and in Bermuda, “preparations should be underway and be completed before anticipated first occurrence of tropical-storm-force winds.”
‘Disaster area’
In Jamaica, UN resident co-ordinator Dennis Zulu told reporters Melissa had brought “tremendous, unprecedented devastation of infrastructure, of property, roads, network connectivity”.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared the tropical island famed for tourism a “disaster area” but said there have yet to be confirmed deaths caused by the storm.
“Our teams are on the ground working tirelessly to rescue, restore, and bring relief where it’s needed most … To every Jamaican, hold strong. We will rebuild, we will recover,” he said on X.
Jamaican government minister Desmond McKenzie said several hospitals were damaged, including in St Elizabeth, a coastal district he said was “underwater”.
Many homes were destroyed and about 25,000 people sought refuge in shelters. Mathue Tapper, 31, told AFP from Kingston those in the capital were “lucky” but feared for fellow Jamaicans in the island’s more rural western areas.
Due to climate change, warmer sea surface temperatures inject more energy into storms, boosting their intensity with stronger winds and more precipitation.
“Human-caused climate change is making all of the worst aspects of Hurricane Melissa even worse,” said climate scientist Daniel Gilford.
Pope Leo offered prayers from the Vatican, while the United States said it was in close contact with the governments of Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.
“We have rescue and response teams heading to affected areas along with critical lifesaving supplies. Our prayers are with the people of the Caribbean,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X, without mentioning ideological foe Cuba.
Communications down
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In the Cuban town of El Cobre, rescue workers attempted Wednesday to reach 17 people, including children and elderly people, trapped by rising floodwaters and a landslide, according to state media.
“We are safe and trying to stay calm,” rheumatologist Lionnis Francos, one of those stranded, told the official news site Cubadebate.
“The rescuers arrived quickly. They called us, but couldn’t cross because the road is blocked.” The full scale of Melissa’s damage is not yet clear. A comprehensive assessment could take days with communications networks badly disrupted across the region.
