MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica — As the cleanup started on Wednesday in southwest Jamaica, fallen trees and debris blocked roads in Montego Bay. Stop lights were out. Hotels and homes were damaged. Bus stops destroyed.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness released aerial video showing the devastation in the St. Elizabeth parish. There were homes flattened, flooded fields, and neighborhoods in disarray.
“I have been through a lot of hurricanes, but this is probably the worst one,” said Richard Muhammed, of Pembroke Pines, who was in a hotel.
Desmond McKenzie, Jamaica’s minister of local government, reported four dead, three men and a woman. The Associated Press reported 8 hurricane-related deaths in Jamaica, one being a baby.
“They were discovered after being washed up by the flood waters generated by the hurricane,“ McKenzie said.
In Black River, a coastal town in the St. Elizabeth parish, two unidentified bodies washed ashore, the Associated Press reported.
“The entire hillside came down last night,” Robert James told The Associated Press in Santa Cruz, a town in the St. Elizabeth parish, where there was a massive landslide.
There were 25,000 tourists stranded in Jamaica. Sangster International Airport remained closed on Wednesday afternoon in Montego Bay.
In Kingston, where the damage wasn’t as severe, the Norman Manley International Airport reopened on Wednesday afternoon, officials said. The Ian Fleming International Airport in northeastern Jamaica’s Boscobel town was set to reopen on Thursday.
More coverage of Hurricane Melissa
- Montego Bay tourists describe riding out Hurricane Melissa in hotel: ‘The windows shattered’
- Drone videos show areas Hurricane Melissa devastated in Jamaica
- Local 10 News Weather Authority updates
- Here is how to help from South Florida
- Jamaican officials’ morning update
- Effort to help from Wilton Manors
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