Residents of Black River in Western Jamaica were scrambling to find basic items on Thursday, after the eye of Hurricane Melissa crossed their town during it's landfall.

Authorities had forecasted the Black River would sustain a direct hit from one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record.

The rumble of large machinery, whine of chain saws and chopping of machetes echoed through communities across the northern Caribbean on Thursday as they dug out from the destruction of Hurricane Melissa and surveyed the damage left behind.

In Jamaica, government workers and residents began clearing roads in a push to reach dozens of isolated communities in the island's southeast.

Stunned residents wandered about, some staring at their roofless homes and waterlogged belongings strewn around them.

Emergency relief flights began landing at Jamaica’s main international airport, which reopened late Wednesday, as crews distributed water, medicine and other basic supplies. Helicopters dropped food as they thrummed above communities where the storm flattened homes, wiped out roads and destroyed bridges, cutting them off from assistance.

Police said at least 14 people have died in Jamaica, and they expected the death toll to keep rising. In one isolated community, residents pleaded with officials to remove the body of one victim tangled in a tree.

More than 13,000 people remained crowded into shelters, with 72% of the island without power and only 35% of mobile phone sites in operation, officials said. People clutched cash as they formed long lines at the few gas stations and supermarkets open in affected areas.

Water trucks have been mobilized to serve many of Jamaica’s rural communities that are not connected to the government’s utility system, Water Minister Matthew Samuda said.

AP Video by Matias Delacroix