Satellite Data Reveals Hurricane Melissa Damage in Jamaica

As Hurricane Melissa sweeps past Bermuda, new satellite data of Jamaica has revealed devastation for tourist center Montego Bay and much of the Western part of the country.

At least 40% of the buildings and roads in the worst-hit areas on the island were severely damaged, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of satellite data processed by the Earth Observatory of Singapore.

The hurricane caused the most destruction in Jamaica’s western region, which includes the devastated town of Black River and the heavily-damaged tourist center of Montego Bay. Analysis of satellite data shows that Saint James, Westmoreland and Saint Elizabeth parishes were most affected.

“I have never seen anything like this before,” said Kerry-Lee Lynch, head of United Way of Jamaica, who drove from Kingston to Montego Bay on Wednesday past downed trees and power poles. She said the damage from Melissa was worse than the hurricanes that devastated the island in years past. “This is more extensive damage than what I saw from Ivan or Beryl. It’s horrific.”

In Jamaica, soldiers on foot have had to use machetes to cut their way through intertwined bamboo plants to reach cutoff communities along the island’s western edge, authorities said during a news briefing on Thursday. Blackouts remain a problem with almost 72% of customers lacking electricity.

“There are entire communities that seem to be marooned and also areas that have been flattened,” Dana Morris Dixon, Jamaica’s information minister, said in a news briefing on Thursday morning. “Jamaica is really broken.”

Melissa also tore through the country’s farming heartland, where staples such as yams and tomatoes are grown for the entire country. Bananas are especially vulnerable during storms because the trees they grow on are fragile, said Damien King, executive director of the Caribbean Policy Research Institute in Kingston. “It has devastated agricultural areas, and that is going to manifest itself in terms of shortages and food prices,” he said.

The record-setting storm made landfall on Tuesday near New Hope, Jamaica, as a Category 5 hurricane packing winds of 185 miles (298 kilometers) per hour. It was the strongest storm to hit the island in more than 170 years of record keeping. At least 19 people have been killed, according to Agence France Presse, citing comments by Minister Dixon to local media late Thursday.

Authorities are still assessing the full extent of the damage, but economic losses are already estimated to be at least $8 billion, said Chuck Watson, a disaster modeler at Enki Research.

Much of the economic toll is likely concentrated in Jamaica due to widespread flooding, he said, with current estimates expecting around $7.7 billion in losses — more than one-third of the island’s gross domestic product. The storm missed the most densely populated islands in the Bahamas, he added, which will likely limit losses to $25 million. Meanwhile, Bermuda faces up to $150 million in impacts depending on the storm’s track as it exits the Caribbean.

“It may be days or a week or more before we have a more complete picture of the scale of destruction,” said AccuWeather meteorologist Jon Porter.

The first step with large buildings like hotels is to assess the stability of the structures, then set up generators and restore air-conditioning to stop mold from growing, said Scott State, chief executive officer of infrastructure decommissioning firm NorthStar. The company provides disaster recovery services and worked in Jamaica after Hurricane Beryl last year. “If there’s not structural integrity, then you’re looking at removing these facilities to the ground or below,” he said.

Melissa still has the capacity for more damage. The storm is moving rapidly northeastward at hurricane strength, and is forecast to bring intense winds and heavy rain to Bermuda overnight, according to an advisory from the US National Hurricane Center.

Melissa was 160 miles northwest of Bermuda as of 11 p.m. New York time, and is set to continue gathering speed as it pushes past the islands. It is already showing signs of “structural decay,” and will weaken dramatically as it enters cooler waters in the North Atlantic near Newfoundland on Friday, US forecasters said.

The storm is predicted to be downgraded to a tropical cyclone “which is close enough to still bring hurricane-force winds,” said AccuWeather meteorologist Alex DaSilva.

Melissa also caused severe damage in Haiti and Cuba. The storm left at least 30 people dead in Haiti, according to the Associated Press. The US is prepared to provide humanitarian assistance to Cuba, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

Kingston Airport reopened on Wednesday for humanitarian flights and Thursday for commercial flights, while Montego Bay Airport remains closed, according Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico, which operates the facilities. Aid began to flow into Jamaica from a variety of countries, with France sending a humanitarian aid ship that carried water purification kits and basic food supplies.

Two specialized US search-and-rescue teams were scheduled to deploy to Jamaica on Thursday from fire departments in Los Angeles County and Fairfax County, Virginia. Officials said the teams — which include 68 crew members and two canine units — will help with recovery efforts and coordinate with the State Department on assessing local needs.

Photograph: The destroyed neighborhood of North Street following the passage of Hurricane Melissa in Black River, Jamaica on Oct. 29, 2025. Photo credit: Ricardo Makyn/AFP/Getty