Twenty-five thousand tourists rode out the storm on the island, and all are safe, according to the tourism minister.

The UK government has chartered flights to help British nationals leave Jamaica in the wake of Hurricane Melissa. As many as 8,000 Britons are understood to be on the Caribbean Island. The Foreign Office has urged them to register their presence to receive updates on the disaster response.

Jamaica is beginning a long recovery after taking the direct hit from Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall as a Category Five storm earlier this week. Communities from Montego Bay to the southern coast sustained catastrophic damage,