Images from a helicopter over Black River, a coastal town of 5,000 in southwestern Jamaica, show the extent of the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa.

The scope of the historic disaster that is the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa is just starting to come into focus a week after the record-setting storm made landfall and carved a path of immense destruction across the western part of Jamaica. Winter is making an early appearance across parts of New England.

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in southwest Jamaica this week near the coastal town of Black River, which the government has described as “ground zero.”

A centuries-old port town was left “devastated” by Hurricane Melissa after a 16ft storm surge hit Black River, satellite images reveal.

Black River, Jamaica was completely destroyed by Hurricane Melissa. Residents say aid still has not arrived in the town, and they are in desperate need of food and water. NBC News’ George Solis reports.

At least two people in the town died, and its historical buildings were reduced to rubble. Black River on Wednesday was unrecognizable to people there: The coastline was strewed with massive boulders, and a cellphone tower had twisted into a semicircle.

The Evangelical humanitarian charity Samaritan s Purse has airlifted a 30-bed emergency field hospital to one of the hardest-hit Jamaican towns to provide medical aid after a local hospital was

At first light on Wednesday, the coastal communities of southwestern Jamaica bore the devastation of being in the direct path of Hurricane Melissa.

Jamaican officials describe harrowing scenes across the island, with more than 32 deaths and 25 communities still marooned.