Like an apocalyptic movie - MP says Melissa has left Westmoreland in ruins

Member of Parliament for Westmoreland Eastern Dr Dayton Campbell says the constituency has been left in ruins following the passage of Hurricane Melissa.

Campbell told The Gleaner that wooden houses had been flattened and the roofs of others had been torn off by the Category 5 system.

The monster storm made landfall near New Hope in the constituency around noon on Tuesday, becoming the most powerful cyclone ever to hit the island.

“Houses, schools, business places all damaged. Churches, majority of the roads are blocked and impassable from fallen trees. There’s literally no connection. One or two persons using Starlink and a few individuals occasionally get a little spotty thing from Flow but there’s nothing else,” said Campbell.

“It’s just total devastation. It looks like something from an apocalyptic type movie. It’s terrible, terrible. Communication is almost non-existent from majority of the communities right now and you can’t get to them either,” he said.

Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie confirmed widespread flooding, landslides, and severe infrastructural damage in Westmoreland, St Elizabeth, Manchester, and Clarendon.

Four deaths have so far been confirmed in St Elizabeth, one of several parishes hardest hit by the storm.

It is not yet clear whether the deaths are as a result of the storm's passage.

Meanwhile, more than 25,000 people are now in shelters across the island stemming from the devastation caused by the hurricane.

- Kimone Francis

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