Caribbean left reeling after deadly hurricane

PEOPLE across the northern Caribbean were digging out from the destruction of Hurricane Melissa yesterday, as deaths from the catastrophic storm climbed.

- ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTERS

The rumble of large machinery, whine of chainsaws and chopping of machetes echoed throughout southeast Jamaica as government workers and residents began clearing roads in a push to reach isolated communities that sustained a direct hit from one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record.

Stunned residents wandered about, some staring at their roofless homes and waterlogged belongings strewn around them.

“I don’t have a house now,’ said a distressed Sylvester Guthrie, a resident of Lacovia in the southern parish of St Elizabeth, as he held on to his bicycle, the only possession of value left after the storm.

“I have land in another location that I can build back but I am going to need help,” he said.

Emergency relief flights began landing at Jamaica's main international airport, which reopened late on Wednesday, as crews distributed water, food and other basic supplies.

“The devastation is enormous,” Jamaican transportation minister Daryl Vaz said.

Some Jamaicans wondered where they would live.

“I am now homeless, but I have to be hopeful because I have life,’ said Sheryl Smith, who lost the roof of her home.

Authorities said they have found at least four bodies in southwest Jamaica.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness said up to 90% of roofs in the southwest coastal community of Black River were destroyed.