Hurricane Melissa has wreaked devastation across Jamaica, decimating homes and infrastructure and leaving thousands of tourists stranded.

The strongest storm to strike the Caribbean island in modern history, the hurricane sustained winds that peaked at 185 miles (nearly 300 kilometers) per hour while drenching the nation with torrential rain.

Apocalyptic new images show hollowed-out buildings, trees torn over and entire towns leveled by the ferocious top-level storm that unleashed flash flooding and mudslides.

Three-quarters of the island nation had no electricity overnight while many parts of Jamaica’s western side are submerged under water.

The category five storm destroyed up to 90 per cent of roofs in the southwest coastal community of Black River, said Prime Minister Andrew Holness, where scores of hospitals, libraries and police stations have been obliterated.

The mammoth hurricane left a trail of destruction throughout the Caribbean, starting in Jamaica on Tuesday afternoon before tearing through Cuba with 150 mph winds and wreaking havoc on Haiti.

By Wednesday night, Melissa had battered the southeast of the Bahamas and is gearing up to pass by Bermuda on Thursday.

At least five people are confirmed to have died in the St Elizabeth area on the southwest coast of Jamaica, while the death toll reached 25 in Haiti on Wednesday night.

In the north coast parish of St. Ann, almost all residents are without power – and many of them woke up without a roof over their heads after Hurricane Melissa tore through Jamaica, downing trees, utility poles and anything in its path.

Fisherman George ‘Larry’ Brown of the community of Priory said the morning was quiet on the day of the storm.

‘Just a little rain’, the 68-year-old recalled.

But by 5.00pm (2200 GMT) on Tuesday, the rain and wind gusts grew heavy and soon, he said, his roof peeled away.

‘I just heard a sound, and it just started to tear off,’ Brown recalled.

He described Melissa as the worst he’s ever experienced.

‘Gilbert is no match to this,’ Brown said, referring to the 1988 hurricane used by many Jamaicans as a benchmark for devastation.

In fact, Hurricane Melissa tied the 1935 record for the most intense storm ever to make landfall, according to an AFP analysis of meteorological data – on par with the Labor Day Hurricane that devastated the Florida Keys 90 years ago.

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