Brandon Drenon
Reporting from Kingston, Jamaica

One of the main questions on many people’s minds in Jamaica and elsewhere is: what will the final death toll be?

Dr Alison Thompson, founder of Third Wave Volunteers – which works to mobilise first responders to provide disaster relief – tells me a true picture of fatalities may not come into view for days.

Thompson says she’s been across the world on 921 missions, since she founded her organisation in 2001.

Arriving in Jamaica on the same flight as me, she says that based off the online images she’s seen of the island so far, she anticipates that “this one is up there” among the worst natural disasters she’s responded to.

“This world just has so much suffering,” Thompson says with a sigh.

As a reminder, we have a BBC team on the ground in Jamaica after landing on one of the few flights into Kingston.

The UK government is working to get British nationals out of hurricane-devastated Jamaica.

It did not specify how many planes had been chartered, but said Brits and their immediate family would be able to take them as long as they held valid travel documents.

As many as 8,000 British nationals are thought to be in Jamaica, where homes have been destroyed, flooding is widespread, and at least five people have died.

The UK Foreign Office says it is prioritising the most vulnerable first, like children and those with medical needs, for seats on the flights.

As a reminder, the UK government has also mobilised £2.5 million in emergency humanitarian aid to the Caribbean region.

• For more on this story: UK charters flights for Britons stranded in Jamaica

Gabriela Pomeroy
Live reporter

I’ve been speaking to Kabien Watson, who runs a beauty business in the Santa Cruz area of St Elizabeth, which has been devastated by Hurricane Melissa.

Kabien was at home with her young children when the roof was ripped off their house. It was “extremely traumatic,” she tells me.

But now she is staying in her flooded house, without a roof, because she feels the public shelter is “too dangerous.”

She tells me: “We are still at home now. Even though our house is flooded and has no roof. The shelters are not safe for my kids. The beds are too close to random men. There aren’t separate areas for kids, men, women and adults.”

As a reminder, we just heard from the country’s local government minister who says the shelters, which currently house around 13,000 people, will remain open.

The number of dead in Jamaica is likely to increase, McKenzie says.

He says he can’t provide an immediate update on the death toll, but that one will be shared later.

“What I will say is, there has been causalities and, based on our information, there will be more.”

As a reminder, at least five people have died in Jamaica during Hurricane Melissa.

And, with that, the briefing comes to an end.

We’re now hearing from local government minister Desmond McKenzie, who stresses that the shelters will remain open.

McKenzie says misinformation has been spreading across social media, falsely claiming that the shelters will be closing today.

He says there are 521 shelters in operation, currently housing about 13,000 people.

The amount of people in shelters has reduced over the last day as some people have been able to return to their homes, he adds.

Minister Andrew O’Brien Wheatley says fraudulent websites pretending to be official government channels have been illicitly collecting donations in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa.

He tells the news conference that 28 such websites have been identified worldwide and are “attempting to divert contributions” from legitimate sources.

He urged people trying to donate online: “protect yourselves” and be wary of suspicious requests.

Jamaica’s Transport Minister Daryl Vaz tells the news conference that eight major hospitals in Jamaica now have power again – though, as we just reported, much of the island nation remains without.

He adds that Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston is now “back up and running”.

The government is expecting to receive several aid flights today.

There will also be 10 commercial flights in and out of Jamaica, Vaz says.

He says two flights are expected to arrive into Ian Fleming International Airport in the country’s northeast.

Back to the press briefing now, as officials say 72% of the island’s customers are still without power.

A lot of schools remain closed, even if they’re not damaged, because they are without water and power, the officials add.

Hundreds of crews deployed across the island to work on restoring power, Jamaican power company JPS said earlier.

In a post on X, they said: “This is the step that lets us see EXACTLY what’s broken, what needs rebuilding, and how long it will realistically take.”

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from Kingston, Jamaica

As the news briefing from officials continues, we can bring you the latest update from our BBC team:

We’ve just arrived in Kingston’s main airport on one of the first few commercial flights since Hurricane Melissa pummelled through and damaged parts of the airport days ago.

It was surreal passing over the idyllic turquoise blue waters and lush green tree-covered mountains, knowing what lies below.

The greater Kingston area has mostly been spared, but to the west – particularly in parts of St Elizabeth parish – large swathes of the region have been decimated.

That’s where we’re headed. At least, we’ll try.

Roads are still being cleared, many for the first time. Blocked by piles of debris and lingering flood waters, some areas remain inaccessible.

We’ll be navigating all the unpredictability of a terrain that has just been hit by the strongest hurricane in Jamaican history.

We’re now hearing an update from officials in Jamaica.

Senator Dana Morris Dixon says there have been “devastating” scenes in western Jamaica. “There are entire communities that seem to be marooned and areas that seem to be flattened,” she adds.

A helicopter has been dedicated to identify and collect bodies, she adds, as many roads remain submerged in floodwater.

“We get a lot of reports about potential bodies, but we’re not sure, we have to verify this,” she says.

The country’s military are travelling into isolated areas on foot. “We are trying to get a corridor that emergency vehicles can go through,” Dixon adds.

We’re continuing to monitor the press briefing, and will bring you any other major lines. Stay with us.

Hurricane Melissa, one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the Atlantic, has caused devastation across the Caribbean.

Strong winds and heavy rain left houses destroyed, roads submerged and bridges collapsed. We’ve taken a look at its impacts:

Jamaica

• At least five people have died
• Bridges have collapsed and homes are isolated, as many remain without power or stranded on roofs
• The prime minister says there is “total devastation” across the island-nation

Haiti

• At least 20 deaths,10 of them children
• The country was not directly hit by the epicentre of Hurricane Melissa
• Devastation was largely due to flooding after days of relentless rain

Cuba

• Santiago de Cuba was badly hit
• President Miguel Díaz-Canel said the hurricane had caused “considerable damage”
• No update on if there have been casualties

The Bahamas

• 1,500 people were evacuated from vulnerable areas
• Parts of the islands were submerged in floodwaters
• Authorities in The Bahamas have since lifted hurricane warnings

Melissa was downgraded from a category five to a category one storm, though it continues to gather speed as it approaches Bermuda. It is expected to make landfall later – our previous post has more on the warnings current in place.

According to the latest update from the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), the storm’s centre currently lies over the Atlantic, to the north-east of Cuba and The Bahamas.

Melissa is moving in the north-northeast direction at a speed of 24mph, with maximum sustained winds of 105mph (165 km/h).

In the latest update, the NHC says:

A hurricane warning is in place for Bermuda, with the NHC warning that “hurricane conditions are expected” there tonight, and that tropical storm conditions will begin in the late afternoon local time.

Nada Tawfik
BBC North America correspondent, en route to Jamaica

Our BBC team is on one of the first flights taking off for Jamaica since Hurricane Melissa hit. Before boarding began in Miami International Airport, an American Airlines official, who is herself from the island, made an announcement on the loud speaker to those of us waiting.

She shared that she wanted to personally be there to deliver a heartfelt message to those going back home. She told passengers that she understood the anxiety and fears they must have felt the last few days while waiting for news from loved ones and being apart from them when Hurricane Melissa hit.

And then she spoke of the resilience of the Jamaican people and how they would overcome this difficult time. When she finished, many applauded her for her emotional speech.

On this flight there are several other journalists and aid groups, but mostly it’s Jamaicans rushing to get back.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from New York

Hurricane Melissa has continued its devastating sweep across the Caribbean, destroying homes, flooding neighbourhoods and leaving dozens dead.

On Tuesday, the island nation was hit by a category five storm – one of the most powerful hurricanes to ever strike the region.

At least five people have been confirmed dead in Jamaica and more than 20 are dead in Haiti, where Melissa passed near as a category two storm, lashing the country with rain and taking out already weakened infrastructure.

In Jamaica, people remain stranded on roofs and without power. Prime Minister Andrew Holness noted the “total devastation” across the island nation.

A team of BBC reporters is currently en route for Kingston, where the airport has now resumed operations after being shuttered for several days.

Follow along as we look around the island and bring you accounts of what’s happened there first-hand.