A cherry red classic car \u2014 one of Cuba’s informal emblems \u2014 crushed under a fallen tree.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
One of Cuba’s classic cars was caught in the storm of Hurricane Melissa.\u00a0 (Reuters: Norlys Perez)<\/p>\n
A bird’s eye view of Jamaica’s crystalline oceans made unrecognisable with brown sludge.<\/p>\n
Jamaica’s White House before Hurricane Melissa. \/ After Hurricane Melissa.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hurricane Melissa, dubbed the “storm of the century”, tore through Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti and left a trail of damage and displacement in its wake.<\/p>\n
Here are some of the earliest images of its aftermath.<\/p>\n
Jamaica<\/p>\n
In the southern parish of Jamaica’s St Elizabeth, a church’s walls stand barren \u2014 the roof and interior ripped clean from its shell.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The church of Lacovia Tombstone is barely standing after the hurricane.\u00a0 (AP: Matias Delacroix)<\/p>\n
At least four bodies were found in south-west Jamaica following the storm, authorities said.<\/p>\n
Jamaica’s Black River before Hurricane Melissa. \/ And after.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Andrew Holness said up to 90 per cent of homes in the south-west coastal community of Black River had lost their roof.<\/p>\n
“Black River is what you would describe as ground zero,” he said.<\/p>\n
“The people are still coming to grips with the destruction.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Streets are left covered with mud in Jamaica.\u00a0 (Reuters: Sandra Stojanovic)<\/p>\n
More than 25,000 people remained crowded into shelters across the western half of Jamaica, with 77 per cent of the island left without power.<\/p>\n
Aerial pictures of Montego Bay showed a thick brown sludge where green shrubbery once grew.<\/p>\n
Jamaica’s Barnett River along Montego Bay before the storm.\u00a0 \/ And after.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Montego Bay resident Alfred Hines, 77, waded through floodwaters with mud-caked belongings.<\/p>\n
“At one stage, I see the water at my waist and [in] about 10 minutes’ time, I see it around my neck here and I make my escape,” he told Reuters.<\/p>\n
“I just want to forget it and things come back to normal.”<\/p>\n
Montego Bay streets are left covered with mud.\u00a0 (Reuters: Sandra Stojanovic)<\/p>\n
Haiti<\/p>\n
In a country already ravaged by gun violence, Melissa wielded another brutal blow.<\/p>\n
At least 25 people have been reported dead and 18 others are missing, mostly in the country’s southern region.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A woman lies inside a shack flooded by Melissa’s heavy rains.\u00a0 (AP: Odelyn Joseph)<\/p>\n
Steven Guadard, who lives in Petit-Go\u00e2ve, said the hurricane killed his entire family.<\/p>\n
“I had four children at home: a one-month-old baby, a seven-year-old, an eight-year-old and another who was about to turn four,” he told AP.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A young person scoops water after floods in Port-au-Prince. (Reuters: Egeder Pq Fildor\u00a0)<\/p>\n
Out of the 20 people killed in Petit-Go\u00e2ve, 10 were children.<\/p>\n
Extended gang conflict has impoverished Haiti and displaced more than 1.3 million people.<\/p>\n
Many of those were living in makeshift camps when the flooding began.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
People inside a now-flooded Port-au-Prince shelter for families displaced by gang violence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0 (AP: Odelyn Joseph)<\/p>\n
Cuba<\/p>\n
Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel attributed “preparation, organisation, and discipline” to the fact that his country had avoided fatalities as the category three storm hit.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dina Pico, 58, shovels sand off his Santiago house. (Reuters: Norlys Perez)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Residents stand next to their Santiago houses hit by Hurricane Melissa.\u00a0 (Reuters: Norlys Perez)<\/p>\n
Santiago de Cuba felt the brunt of the storm and local Alexis Carbonnel described Melissa as “a monster”.<\/p>\n
“We had never seen anything like this in history,” he told Reuters.<\/p>\n
More than 735,000 Cubans had evacuated as the storm hit.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mattresses, tables and belongings are rescued in Santiago de Cuba. \u00a0 (AP: Ram\u00f3n Espinosa)<\/p>\n
Local resident Francisco Garcia returned home and spent more than two hours trying to remove a massive rock that crashed through his front door.<\/p>\n
Others saved mattresses and tables, hung clothing to dry on toppled trees.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A woman hangs clothes to dry on a tree toppled by strong winds.\u00a0 (Reuters: Norlys Perez\u00a0)<\/p>\n
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