In brief
Five days following Hurricane Melissa's devastating impact, Jamaican towns are reeling under severe destruction and isolation. With widespread loss of life and infrastructure, residents plead for aid while grappling with a lack of essential resources and communication.
Five days after Hurricane Melissa pummelled into western Jamaica with record force, residents in devastated communities along the coast are still desperately waiting for help.
Many of the roads are blocked by debris and people are isolated with little food, no power or running water, and no idea of when normalcy will return.
The government said on Saturday that at least 28 people in Jamaica have died since the hurricane hit as a monster category five storm with 185 mph (297km/h) sustained winds.
That is a near 50% jump in the death toll overnight, and the number could rise as officials clear their way into new parts of the island in the coming days.
Local official Dr Dayton Campbell told the BBC 10 of those deaths were in Westmoreland.
Westmoreland parish is believed to have the second highest number of unconfirmed deaths, after St Elizabeth to the south east. The eye of the storm hit somewhere between the two neighbouring parishes. At St Elizabeth an estimated 90% of homes have been destroyed.
A long stretch of road headed west into Westmoreland Parish winds through a graveyard of trees – stacks of branches and limbs, cracked and twisted, blanketing the landscape for miles. It is grim evidence of Hurricane Melissa's ferocity - it was the strongest storm to strike the Caribbean island in modern history.
Piles of debris are heaped on the parish's roadsides, next to battered buildings, shipping crates turned on their side and crowds of people wading through the destruction.
Those living in Whitehouse, a coastal town and commercial hub on the edge of Westmoreland Parish, say the wait for assistance is becoming frustrating. Gary Williams said he has heard promises of incoming aid delivery, but they no turn up.
About 400,000 people in Jamaica were without power as of Friday, and an untold number more have no access to cell phone service or Wi-Fi, cut off from the outside world.
Meanwhile, foreign aid has now started entering into Jamaica. The US State Department announced on Friday that its Disaster Assistance Response Team had arrived. Countries including the UK have also pledged millions in aid relief funds and emergency supplies.
