Residents in Jamaica are grappling with the scale of devastation wrought by Hurricane Melissa, as the storm moves into the Atlantic and starts to weaken.

The hurricane made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday, local time, as a catastrophic category five storm, making it one of the strongest hurricanes on record.

The system has also swept through Cuba and Haiti and is expected to affect the Bahamas and Bermuda, albeit as a weaker category two.

At its peak as it crossed the Jamaican coast, the storm was packing winds of 295 kilometres an hour.

Images of the aftermath show ripped up roads, downed trees and powerlines, and collapsed houses.

People were streaming into the shelters throughout the day after the storm ripped off the roofs of their homes and left them temporarily homeless.

Jamaica

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