STORY: Stranded tourists in Jamaica say they do not know how or when they will be able to leave the storm-ravaged Caribbean island.

Hurricane Melissa, with sustained winds of 185 mph (298 kph) destroyed homes, uprooted trees and washed out roads before moving on to eastern Cuba. With communications compromised or cut off completely, the full extent of the damage is unknown, especially in the remote parts of the mountainous island.

Primrose Hamilton, 64, flew from New York to Jamaica visit her ailing mother. She was supposed to fly back to New York via Montego Bay on Thursday (October 30) but airport officials told her there were no planes available. The airport was partially damaged from the hurricane and officials were asking tourists to go to the airport in Jamaican capital of Kingston, more than a 100 miles east of Montego Bay.

"I don't go to Kingston because Kingston is far away. I don't know anything about Kingston. I can't go," Hamilton said.

The capital Kingston was spared the worst damage and its main airport was set to reopen Thursday but as of Wednesday morning authorities said about 77% of Jamaica was without electricity. Gas stations are closed and internet services are down, making it hard for tourists in Montego Bay to reach Kingston.

Chevelle Fitzgerald, a British tourist from Birmingham had evacuated to Kingston ahead of the storm and had returned to Montego Bay to collect her belongings. She was trying to leave Montego Bay, but she was worried about running out of gas.

"Montego Bay hasn't got any petrol. Most of the petrol stations are down. So yeah, it's just kind of a bit difficult. And I don't think the local police are any help, to be honest. Being abroad a foreigner, it doesn't really help you either," Fitzgerald said.

The British government has charted flights to help stranded Britons leave Jamaica, but with no data services and cellphone signals, Fitzgerald said she had no information about the chartered planes due to the communications blackout

"I haven't been able to hear anything. You're the first person that said anything to me. There's no communication," she told Reuters.

Melissa made landfall in southwestern Jamaica on Tuesday (October 28), devastating areas already battered by last year's Hurricane Beryl. Local authorities said flood waters had washed up at least four bodies in the agricultural hub of St. Elizabeth.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VIDEO SHOWS: SOUNDBITES FROM A STRANDED BRITISH TOURIST AND TWO AMERICAN TOURISTS / VIEW OF PARTIALLY DAMAGED SANGSTER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: MONTEGO BAY, JAMAICA (OCTOBER 30, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF MONTEGO BAY'S PARTIALLY DAMAGED SANGSTER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

2. A SIGN BOARD TILTING OVER

3. A VEHICLE PASSING BY A SECURITY PERSONNEL

4. STRANDED TOURIST, PRIMROSE HAMILTON, SEATED NEAR LUGGAGE

5. CLOSE OF HAMILTON'S FACE

6. PAN FROM LUGGAGE TO HAMILTON

7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRIMROSE HAMILTON, STRANDED TOURIST FROM NEW YORK, SAYING:

"This town was bad, devastated. It was very bad. Every roof was off the house, every roof. It didn't spare nobody. Every tree was off, all the trees, everything, every building. It was devastated. It's not good. No light, no water. I want to go back to New York. I want to go home. I got enough of this. It's a lot. It's a lot."

8. PAN FROM BROKEN TREES TO DAMAGED HOMES

9. A DESTROYED ROOFTOP

10. BROKEN BRANCHES

11. VIEW OF BUILDING THROUGH BRANCHES

12. A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE LINED UP NEAR AIRPORT/ HAMILTON SPEAKING TO A DRIVER IN A VEHICLE

13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRIMROSE HAMILTON, STRANDED TOURIST FROM NEW YORK, SAYING:

"Yeah, I don't go to Kingston because Kingston is far away. I don't know anything about Kingston. I can't go. This is where I always take my plane. This is where I come, and this is nearer to my house. So I don't want to go to Kingston. No, I don't. I'd rather go where I come, right here, Montego Bay."

14. VARIOUS OF CHEVELLE FITZGERALD, STRANDED TOURIST FROM BIRMINGHAM, UK

15. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHEVELLE FITZGERALD, STRANDED TOURIST FROM BIRMINGHAM, UK, SAYING:

"I went to Kingston for the storm and came back to get some stuff yesterday. It took me six hours. It took me at least six hours to get back to Montego Bay from Kingston yesterday. The highway was closed. You had some blockage on the road and trees falling down, water puddles and stuff. So we got back. It was okay. Then we've got petrol issues. I still haven't got any petrol going back into Falmouth. We're trying to get as close as possible. Montego Bay hasn't got any petrol. Most of the petrol stations are down. So yeah, it's just kind of a bit difficult. And I don't think the local police are any help, to be honest. Being abroad a foreigner, it doesn't really help you either. So it's just hard just trying to find a way around. No signal, no data. And that's just kind of, yeah, that's just it, to be honest."

16. MORE OF AIRPORT

17. VEHICLES NEAR THE AIRPORT

18. SECURITY PERSONNEL SPEAKING TO BYSTANDER

19. BROKEN ROOFTOP NEAR PARKING LOT

20. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHEVELLE FITZGERALD, STRANDED TOURIST FROM BIRMINGHAM, UK, SAYING:

"I haven't been able to hear anything. You're the first person that said anything to me. There's no communication. I'm not able to hear anything off anybody. There's no radio station, not from what I'm aware of, so I'm not clued up at all. We will try to get to the Commission or the Constable or something, whatever they got down here, but I haven't heard it, so hopefully they usually would have tried to get us, so hopefully that's the case. So I can go, because I'd rather go. It's just too much now."

21. VARIOUS OF LANCELOT (Last name unknown), A STRANDED TOURIST FROM PHILADELPHIA

22. (SOUNDBITE) (English) LANCELOT (Last name unknown), A STRANDED TOURIST FROM PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, SAYING:

"Today is the day that I'm supposed to leave at 3 o'clock. I was supposed to be on American Airlines. So I come to check at the airport to see if I could leave, but they said no. No flights are resuming, no flights are going out. So I was planning to go to Kingston, but I have to call them first before I go to Kingston, but I have no internet service."

23. WIDE OF ROAD LEADING TO AIRPORT

24. POLICE VEHICLE

25. (SOUNDBITE) (English) LANCELOT (Last name unknown), A STRANDED TOURIST FROM PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, SAYING:

"My food is running out. My food is completely running out. No bread, can't get no bread. I don't know about flour, can't get nothing like that. No bread. Bread is the main thing. People are really in a long line, really fighting to get a loaf of bread."

26. PAN OF AIRPORT FROM A DISTANCE

27. WIDE OF TOWER

28. BROKEN TREES ON THE GROUND

29. SIGN THAT READS "MONTEGO BAY"