St. Elizabeth Parish, southwestern Jamaica, is the first to be struck by Category 5 Hurricane Melissa. Winds of 185 mph (295 km/h) are tearing through the area, causing severe flooding and destruction.

 Tourists are struggling to return home and communities across the Caribbean are continuing to pick up the pieces left by the devastating and deadly former Hurricane Melissa, which walloped Jamaica as one of the strongest hurricanes to make landfall in Atlantic history and brought catastrophic flooding to several islands in the region.