'Never been this bad': Jamaica surveys ruins in hurricane's wake

A demolished church, roofs blown off homes, shattered windows and debris-strewn, impassable roads: Hurricane Melissa dealt a direct hit to Jamaica's southwestern coastal communities that face a long haul picking up the pieces.

"It has been devastating," officer Warrell Nicholson told AFP by phone from the Black River police station, a building that was damaged but has still become something of a refuge for people seeking shelter.

Footage of the area shows felled trees, smashed cars, downed power lines and ruined homes -- a portrait of wreckage that is only starting to come clear as assessment is hampered by a lack of power and communications across the Caribbean island.

A store stands destroyed following the passage of Hurricane Melissa in Manchester, Jamaica / © AFP

Hurricane Melissa smashed into Jamaica as a ferocious top-level storm, whose sustained winds peaked at 185 miles (295 kilometers) per hour while drenching the nation with torrential, life-threatening rain.

A little up the coast from Black River, Andrew Houston Moncure took shelter at home with his wife and 20-month-old son, at one point taking pillows and blankets into the shower to put as many walls between themselves and the brutal weather as possible.

It's far from his first hurricane -- but "it's never been this bad," he told AFP.

"It was the most terrifying experience, especially with my son. The pressure is so low you struggle to breathe, and it just sounds like a freight train going over you," Houston Moncure said, his voice trembling with emotion.

A man stands on what is left of the roof of his neighbor following the passage of Hurricane Melissa, in Longwood, St Elizabeth, Jamaica / © AFP

The roof blew off the hotel's kitchen, he said, but the hotel owners are trying their best to prepare and distribute food to locals before it goes bad.

"We are the lucky ones," he said. "When you look up into the hill, you just see boarded houses that are collapsed."

"It's gonna be a long road back."

- 'Everything is gone' -

A damaged car by a fallen tree is seen after the passage of Hurricane Melissa in Manchester, Jamaica / © AFP

In Seaford Town, Christopher Hacker's restaurant high in the hills of western Jamaica stands in ruins: "Everything is gone," he told AFP.

He is also a farmer, and shared images of his banana fields that were flattened.

"It will take a lot to recover from this," he said.

"Catastrophic is a mild term," said Coleridge Minto, head of the Saint Elizabeth Division of Jamaica's police, in a press update from the area.

"The situation here is devastating. We need all the help that we can."

A man points to his banana crops, destroyed by the powerful winds following the passage of Hurricane Melissa, in longwood, St Elizabeth, Jamaica / © AFP

Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness has declared the tropical island famed for tourism a "disaster area" in the wake of Hurricane Melissa, which tied the 1935 record for the most intense storm to ever make landfall.

Some 70 percent of the country was without power: in Bluefields, Houston Moncure said they were using a pick-up truck to charge battery packs and a mini portable internet kit from Starlink.

"Our generator got hit by a tree. There's no communication. I have the only Starlink in the area," he said, calling the situation "catastrophic."

"Today we're just trying to care for the people who are here, take care of ourselves and take care of each other."

Melissa left Jamaica late Tuesday, though remnant rains persisted as the storm continued its destructive trek into Cuba.

Desmond McKenzie, a Jamaican minister who has been coordinating emergency response, described extensive destruction including to hospitals / © AFP

Residents there were also suffering flooded homes, blocked streets and extensive infrastructure damage.

Desmond McKenzie, a Jamaican minister who has been coordinating emergency response, described extensive destruction including to hospitals.

Recovery, he said, would be arduous.

But amid the devastation, a glimmer of light: three babies were delivered during the storm, McKenzie told a briefing.

"We are a great country," he said. "Despite our challenges, we rise to the occasion."