• Mandeville suffered massive property damage
• MoBay property damage, roofs lost, and Cornwall Regional Hospital partially damaged
• Cave Valley, Clarendon & environs houses submerged
• Santa Cruz, St. Elizabeth houses and communities flooded, a section of St Elizabeth Technical High School’s roof gone
• Black River – Disaster Zone: JPS building, Hospital & Market massively damaged
• Treasure Beach – guest houses and Jake’s Hotel suffered significant damage
• Spalding’s flooded all over
• Morant Bay underwater• Frankfield has many roads that are impassable, roofs are gone on homes, and at Edwin Allen High School
• St Andrew’s land-slippage, roof loss, flooding, and road damage
• Bath, St Thomas – Plantain Garden River banks eroded putting commercial & residential buildings at risk, and vehicles slipped into the raging waters
• Hospitals damaged: Black River Hospital St Elizabeth, Cornwall Regional St James, Noel Holmes Hospital in Hanover, Falmouth Hospital in Trelawny
• Infrastructure – roads & bridges damaged across the island, electricity poles downed, Water systems interrupted, WiFi & Cell systems impacted
• Both Sangster Int Airport and Norman Manley Inr Airport sustained quite a bit of damage
SOURCE: Community Tourism: Diana McIntyre-Pike
Many in Jamaica woke up in silence. About three-quarters of the island is without power, and many parts of its western side are underwater, with homes destroyed by strong winds after Hurricane Melissa tore across the island with catastrophic force. As wind and rain lashed through the night, one local official said the destruction resembled “the scene of an apocalypse movie.”
Severe damage was captured at Montego Bay International Airport after Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica with winds exceeding 185 mph. The airport remains closed at this time.
Black River in St. Elizabeth, the place where Hurricane Melissa made landfall, is destroyed, according to numerous social media reports.
Based on recent reports from Hurricane Melissa’s impact, eastern Jamaica, including Kingston, appears less affected, with minimal damage reported. Western and southwestern areas, including St. Elizabeth, Montego Bay, and Negril, suffered severe flooding, power outages, and extensive damage.
Kingston was spared, I experienced no real disruptions, says Prof. Lloyd Wallace, head of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Center in Jamaica.
A Colombian tourist staying at the Iberostar Rose Hall Resort in Montego Bay said. Hundreds of guests had to be moved to makeshift shelters in the hotel’s safest areas. Mattresses, chairs, and food were hastily arranged amid the hurricane’s brutal roar.
A guest staying at the Sandals South in White House said the building held up and everyone is ok.
Based on available reports as of October 29, 2025, there are no confirmed accounts of significant damage to Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall from Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall in Jamaica on October 26. A Facebook group post from guests indicates they “made it through” safely. The resort’s inclement weather policy remains in effect for affected visitors. For real-time updates, check with the resort directly.
According to a staff member at The Princess Hotel, the hotel must remain closed at least until the end of the year due to damage. According to him, many hotels in Negril suffered severe damage.
We are finally safe and able to connect to Starlink. The damage here is catastrophic; I wouldn’t wish yesterday on my worst enemy,” a tourist in Negril said.
Starlink has made satellite phone connection available free of charge in Jamaica and the Bahamas due to the storm, since regular cell service has been interrupted in many parts of Jamaica.
With communications crippled, the true scale of the disaster remains unknown. Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared the island a “disaster area” late Tuesday, warning of “devastating impacts” and “significant damage” to hospitals, homes, and businesses.
At its peak, the hurricane sustained winds of 298 km/h (185 mph) – stronger than Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005.
“It resembled the scene of an apocalypse movie”, an MP in western Jamaica told Kingston-based journalist Kimone Francis of The Jamaica Gleaner.
The United States, the United Nations, and the United Kingdom are standing by to deliver in solidarity with Jamaica and other affected countries in this hour of need.
A jet service company offered its charter jets for transporting first responders and for other emergencies.
The 300-year-old Anglican Church of St. John in Black River, Jamaica, was destroyed by Hurricane Melissa.
World Tourism Network member and representative for Peace Through Tourism and Community tourism in Jamaica, Diana McIntyre, shared this message about how a proud Jamaican would feel.
Out of Many, One People
Jamaica is not just an island. She is an oasis.
She was formed of red bauxite, terra rossa, and clay.
Her breath tastes of salt and sugarcane.
Her voice is patois and prayer.
When the hurricane comes, she does not break.
She bends like the banana tree, facing the storm without flinching.
She roots herself in ancestral soil.
She listens to the heartbeat of the storm and turns it into song.
The rivers may overflow her streets, but it will not drown her spirit.
The colors of her flag tell her story.
Black for the strength and creativity of her people; fierce individuals who know how to weather any storm.
Green for the land that feeds her and her people, generous and unyielding, always returning to abundance.
Gold for her natural wealth. She raises her precious jewels up to the sun and looks at them admiringly.
Her battle cry is “Out of many, one people!”
When the storm comes, she summons the ancestors.
She weaves a blanket of protection for her people, spinning sacred threads from the Arawaks, Africans, Indians, Chinese, and Europeans.
She wraps the blanket around her people and softly whispers, “Every’ting is gonna be alright.”
To be Jamaican is to know resilience in potent form.
To be Jamaican is to find meaning in all things.
To be Jamaican is to know joy and a peace that surpasses all understanding.
To be Jamaican is to rise, again and again, with the new dawn of a dazzling sun.
