Tonight, hundreds of thousands of Jamaicans, Cubans and Haitians are without power, without internet, phone and running water after the historic Hurricane Melissa churns towards the Bahamas as a Category 1 hurricane at this hour.
When we left you last night, the storm was heading to southern Cuba. Tonight, residents of those two island states are picking up the pieces they can and assessing the terrible toll of damage left in the wake of the strongest storm on the planet this year and one of the strongest ever in the Atlantic.
And it damaged homes, commercial buildings, and major structures like hospitals and airports. Here's what we gathered from their government's post storm press briefing this morning.
The devastation, destruction and upheaval from Hurricane Melissa was most visible here in Black River, where the storm made landfall and turned the place upside down.
On the north coast of the island at the Montego Bay airport - the scale of destruction was shocking:
And though electricity, internet and phone communication remain cut off to large portions of the island, after the All Clear was given, officials activated their response mechanisms countrywide.
This morning during an official press briefing, Jamaica's Information Minister said that the damage assessment has commenced.
Live Updates On Hurricane Melissa | Official Press Briefing | October 29, 2025
Dana Morris Dixon, Jamaica's Information Minister
"As we start this morning we do want to say that it looks really really difficult in many parts of Jamaica and it is very difficult and the images we are getting are really devastating. But as always I have always said it, we are a strong people, we are resilient people and we will get through this together. The first order of the day really is to have an assessment of what has happened and that is being done. This morning right before this press briefing there was a cabinet meeting, a meeting that was really about coordinating how we get these assessments done well and how we get resources to those that need it the most and so all of our ministers will be out working really hard with their teams to get the support to those who need it the most. We also want to thank the international community for all the offers of assistance, we are so grateful for you to be so support to us in this very difficult time and we will be working through our ministry of foreign affairs and foreign trade to coordinate a lot of those offers of assistance we have gotten from around the world."
Water and electricity services are expected to be restored slowly throughout the day, but one of their main priorities is to get their airports back up and running.
Live Updates On Hurricane Melissa | Official Press Briefing | October 29, 2025
Dana Morris Dixon, Jamaica's Information Minister
"A category 5 hurricane is catastrophic and so it would have left significant damage and so that is why we are not getting communication, I finally got some communication from some individuals in Montego Bay and so slowly we are getting some of our systems back up and running and you should be able to reach your families we are hoping very soon. The other question we are being asked about is the airports, we are working to have Norman Manley up by tomorrow to facilitate relief flights that is dependent on the assessment that is done today as we speak Minister Vaz our minister of energy, telecoms and transportation he is up in one of the choppers and he is assessing the damage at that airport he is also looking at the Ian Fleming airport to see if that is an alternative. We will not be able to give any information on Sangster international airport in Montego Bay at this time. When we have that information I will provide that to you."
Reports continue to pour in from persons trapped on roofs and in need of evacuation services, but according to Minister Desmond McKenzie they still have not been able to officially confirm any deaths at this time.
Live Updates On Hurricane Melissa | Official Press Briefing | October 29, 2025
Desmond McKenzie, Jamaica's Minister of Local Development
"The first question I want to respond to is that I keep getting a lot of messages about fatalities. We are not in a position to speak about any deaths because we have not had any reports of any deaths so far so we cannot presume that there are deaths. I am hoping that there are no deaths to report on but we are not in a position to make an official statement on deaths because we have not received any such information."
Four persons have been confirmed dead in Jamaica added to 3 that died during storm preparations, while at least 20 have died in Haiti due to flooding.
