RESCUERS and aid workers fanned out across Jamaica on Saturday as they attempted to reach isolated communities four days after deadly Hurricane Melissa hit the island.

At least 28 people are known to have been killed by the category five storm, which devastated the Caribbean island last Tuesday.

Health Minister Christopher Tufton recognised that the death toll in Jamaica was probably higher, as many places are still hard to access, but said it would be unwise to speculate.

Essential relief supplies have only just started to reach the hurricane-stricken regions of St Elizabeth and Westmoreland, most of which had been cut off by fallen concrete posts and trees.

In some areas people were forced to dip buckets into rivers, collecting muddy water for everyday use.

In Westmoreland, mangled metal sheets, splintered wooden frames of houses and fragments of furniture littered the coastline.

Social Security Minister Pearnel Charles Jnr was among several convoys of emergency responders en route to deliver ready-to-eat meals, water, tarpaulins, blankets, medicine and other essentials.

“The priority now is to get help to those who need it,” said Mr Charles Jnr, during a brief stop en-route to Black River for the first time with long-awaited relief supplies. 

Prime Minister Andrew Holness had declared Black River ground zero and said the town will have to be rebuilt.

The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) has set up a satellite disaster relief site at the Luana community centre near Black River, where care packages are being dispatched to stricken residents.

Many have been without vital supplies since Tuesday and quickly converged around a JDF truck as word spread that relief supplies were being distributed in the sweltering afternoon sun.

“Everyone is homeless right now,” Rosemarie Gayle said. “Thank you, thank you. I can’t say thank you enough,” she said, as she accepted a package of rice, beans, sardines, powdered milk, cooking oil and other essentials.

Melissa has left devastation in its wake, snapping power lines and toppling buildings, disrupting food and water distribution and destroying crop fields.

Some people have been walking for miles in search of basic goods and to check on loved ones, as more than 60 per cent of the island remained without power. Helicopters have been dropping food in cut-off communities.

One of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes to make landfall, Melissa also killed 31 people in nearby Haiti. Although suffering extensive damage to buildings Cuba, also hit hard by the storm, has reported no related deaths.