Hurricane Melissa caused floods across villages in Jamaica following heavy rain and powerful winds that battered the island.

Footage shows the aftermath of the storm in rural New Market, St Elizabeth, under overcast skies and a hazy sunset glow on October 29.

A man in a blue T-shirt and red shorts was seen wading ankle-deep through murky brown floodwater along debris-choked paths.

Collapsed structures, leaning power poles, and mist-shrouded mountains were also visible in the background.

Melissa made landfall on Jamaica's south-western coast around 1 pm ET on Tuesday as a Category 5 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph.

The Miami-based National Hurricane Centre described the situation as 'extremely dangerous and life-threatening'. The storm had previously made landfall in Cuba and passed through the Bahamas as a Category 1 hurricane.

Authorities reported on Thursday that the freak weather had left at least 49 people dead across the Caribbean.