Hurricane Melissa Death Toll Increases In Jamaica

Hurricane Melissa Death Toll Increases In Jamaica

Information Minister Dana Morris Dixon reports that at least 19 people have died in Jamaica as a result of Hurricane Melissa. As search and rescue efforts continue, authorities are trying to get aid to hard-hit areas.

According to Officials, Hurricane Melissa is one of the most powerful to strike the Caribbean, killing at least 30 people in Haiti.

In Jamaica, “there are entire communities that seem to be marooned and areas that seem to be flattened”, Dixon said, with “devastating” scenes in western regions.

Due to flooding and mud damage to homes and belongings, electricity remains out to most of the island, and many thousands are growing increasingly desperate for aid.

Parts of the country have been without water for several days, and food is growing increasingly scarce.

Aid supplies are starting to arrive more rapidly, with the main airport in the Jamaican capital, Kingston, largely back to normal, but smaller regional airports, some of which are located near where humanitarian assistance is most needed, remain only partly operational.

Aid agencies and the military are bringing in the urgently needed supplies from Kingston by land, but many roads remain unpassable in places.

An approximate hour journey from Mandeville, in the centre of the country, is taking eight hours because the roads are so torn up.

Nearly all buildings in some Jamaican villages have been destroyed by the hurricane, as captured in satellite images.

Residents of towns in western Jamaica told the BBC on Thursday that “words can’t explain how devastating” the storm has been for the country.

“No-one is able to get through to their loved ones,” Trevor ‘Zyanigh’ Whyte told the BBC from the town of White House in Westmoreland parish.

“Everyone is just, you know, completely disconnected… Every tree is on the road, right, so you can’t get too far with the cars, not even a bicycle,” he said.

Jamaica, a very green and mountainous country, has been stripped, leaving what looks like twigs and matchsticks.

Hurricane Melissa made landfall on Tuesday in Jamaica as a Category five storm, packing winds of up to 185 mph (295 km/h), before impacting other countries in the Caribbean.

Governments, humanitarian organisations and individuals around the world are pledging support for the nations hardest hit by the storm.

The World Food Programme said it is collaborating with partners to coordinate logistics, cash and emergency supplies across Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The US State Department said it is deploying a disaster response team to the region to support search-and-rescue operations and provide food, water, medical supplies, hygiene kits, and temporary shelters.

The UK government on Friday said it is mobilising an additional £5m ($6m) to send humanitarian supplies, including shelter kits and solar-powered lanterns, to help people without power and whose homes have been damaged.

That is on top of £2.5m ($3.36m) already announced in emergency humanitarian funding to support recovery in the Caribbean.

The Foreign Office is also preparing flights to evacuate British nationals unable to come home on commercial flights.