Jamaica Battles Back After Hurricane Melissa: PM Holness says 72% still without power 

Jamaica: As Jamaica is moving on the track of recovery following the passage of monstrous Category 5 Hurricane Melissa, Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced that as of 8 am, this morning, Jamaica is operating with a very limited electricity supply because of damaged generation units as well as transmission lines.

The hurricane made a landfall in Jamaica with a wind speed of 185 mph on Tuesday afternoon and left a trail of destruction in its wake.

Black River, #Jamaica, once a peaceful coastal town, now lies in ruins after Hurricane #Melissa, a Category 5 storm, struck on October 28 with 185 mph winds and a 16-foot storm surge, causing widespread #destruction.#wicnews #hurricanemelissa pic.twitter.com/revK8yKdal

— WIC News (@WIC_News) October 30, 2025

After a meeting with Minister of Telecommunications and Transport, Daryl Vaz, Holness made this announcement and said that the destruction has left over 490,000 customers totaling 72% population of the country, without power. He added that only parts of St Andrew, Kingston, St Catherine as well as St Thomas presently have electricity.

While briefing the citizens, Minister Vaz said that eight major hospitals including the ones in St Andrew, Kingston and Spanish Town has successfully regained power along with Norman Manley International Airport while 13 additional health clinics across the island are being prioritized for restoration.

Vaz further provided details that several parishes including Hanover, Clarendon, St Elizabeth, Trelawny, St Ann and Westmoreland remain completely without electricity while several others including St James, St Catherine and St Mary have tens of thousands still affected.

He emphasised that all public wi-fi hubs as well as community hotspots in the western region of Jamaica are down because of the damage caused by the hurricane which has prompted the deployment of Starlink satellite internet and solar powered hubs to help the locals stay connected.

Relief flights have also begun arriving across all three international airports with Norman Manley resuming commercial operations while Montego Bay is expected to follow after some time, despite some terminal damage.

The Travel Minister further confirmed that JUTC has deployed at least 175 buses in Kingston, Spanish Town as well as Portmore while rural routes remain inaccessible because of road conditions and highlighted the requirement for daily updates on road access in order to prevent unnecessary travel disruptions.

He further reported that telecommunications infrastructure is also showing signs of recovery with 35% of mobile sites operational as well as urban areas such as St Thomas and Kingston performing better.

With the relief efforts ongoing, the Jamaica government is trying their best to bring relief to everyone affected as soon as possible.