{"id":275883,"date":"2025-11-06T20:52:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T20:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/275883\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T20:52:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T20:52:11","slug":"we-need-help-devastated-jamaican-communities-still-await-aid-after-hurricane-melissa-hurricane-melissa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/275883\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We need help\u2019: devastated Jamaican communities still await aid after Hurricane Melissa | Hurricane Melissa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sitting outside her house in muddy slippers amid the ruins left by category 5 Hurricane Melissa<\/a> that ravaged<\/a> parts of Jamaica<\/a> last week, Narva Maxwell Taylor recounted how she and her family had to fight for their lives when the storm sent flood waters surging through their home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to give God thanks we are alive. We could be dead. But everything is gone. I don\u2019t have anything left now,\u201d Taylor, a resident of Catherine Hall, Montego Bay, said.<\/p>\n

Narva Maxwell Taylor, a resident of the community of Catherine Hall, stands in deep mud in front of her home after it was severely flooded during the passage of Hurricane Melissa. Photograph: Ina Sotirova\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Like almost every home in her neighbourhood, Taylor\u2019s house is in shambles<\/a>, with thick silt paving the floors, and bedrooms, bathrooms and living rooms transformed into dank and muddy jumbles of ruined precious belonging and debris. On the pavement outside beds, mattresses, sofas, clothes, appliances and more debris are piled in soggy heaps, and a pungent, musty odour pervades the entire community.<\/p>\n

Taylor said she was in desperate need of a suitable shelter and a steady supply of clean water and food. She is yet to receive one of the care packages with food and other basic essentials that the Jamaica<\/a> government has started distributing to the worst-affected communities, she said, and is frustrated with the delay.<\/p>\n

Her concerns about the slow movement of relief were echoed by people in a queue at an emergency food assistance centre set up by American non-profit humanitarian organisation, Operation Blessing<\/a>, in collaboration with World Central Kitchen<\/a> and local churches.<\/p>\n

Mount Gurney church demolished by the passage of Hurricane Melissa.A plaque records the destruction of Mount Gurney church in 1957.<\/p>\n

Mary Wildish, the pastor of the local Trumpet Call Ministries International<\/a> who is working with Operation Blessing, said there were no quick fixes for the unprecedented impact of Hurricane Melissa. \u201cWe have people that are here who\u2019ve lost everything. When I say everything, not even a pair of underwear,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Pastor Mary Wildish distributes canned goods and non-perishable foods to people affected by the passage of Hurricane Melissa.<\/p>\n

Waiting in line for food, Erica Jenkinson, who had travelled from the neighbouring Mount Carey, said her house was demolished. She was concerned that help has not yet reached her community. \u201cWe don\u2019t see anybody come around as yet \u2026 nobody at all. We need water to drink and to wash clothes. Mostly we want food to eat. We don\u2019t have any food like that. All the banana trees, the coconut trees are blown down. We need help,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

People wait in line for a free meal provided by the World Central Kitchen in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa.Erica Jenkinson and Ricardo Burrell wait in line for a free meal provided by the World Central Kitchen.<\/p>\n

Outlining the magnitude of the challenge facing Jamaica, the prime minister, Andrew Holness, said this week<\/a> that Melissa had caused damage equivalent to a one-third of the nation\u2019s GDP.<\/p>\n

Holness said response efforts to communities cut off by damages to roads and bridges were hobbled by a lack of helicopters, social workers, doctors and engineers, and noted these shortages underlined the need for contingency planning ahead for future storms.<\/p>\n

Neil Barnes AKA \u2018Crazy Neil\u2019 talks with residents in the community of Catherine Hall after their homes were severely flooded during the passage of Hurricane Melissa.<\/p>\n

Crazy Neil, a Montego Bay DJ and content creator, said that while there were places that are still waiting for desperately needed rescue and relief, he was \u201cgiving the authorities the benefit of the doubt that they are a little bit overwhelmed\u201d.<\/p>\n

Neil, who during the storm was trapped by fallen trees and flooding, added: \u201cI think once people have not been touched personally by [aid workers] or seen them or gotten anything from them, they feel like help is definitely not coming. But maybe they just haven\u2019t reached to them as yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dwight Crawford, deputy mayor of Montego Bay and councillor for Spring Garden division, oversees the trucks cleaning up the community of Catherine Hall.<\/p>\n

Just around the corner from Taylor, Montego Bay\u2019s deputy mayor, Dwight Crawford, was on the ground working with tractors to clear debris and begin the cleanup. Crawford, who described living through Melissa as a terrifying experience, said he lost parts of his roof. \u201cI have no water, no light, just like everyone else. But [this is] a selfless job. You have to extend yourself. So I\u2019ve left my wife and kids at home without water and electricity to come out here and help the persons that are in need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crawford said while he understands the pain that many people are feeling, the authorities are working hard with businesses and other partners to restore critical services and bring relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of us have been on the ground trying to see to it that we restore a level of order \u2026 we\u2019re trying to maintain hope for the people and lead with purpose so that they feel that we\u2019re in it with them and they haven\u2019t been left alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fallen trees and damaged homes in the hills of Hanover following the passage of Hurricane Melissa. Photograph: Ina Sotirova\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Climate scientists have linked<\/a> Hurricane Melissa\u2019s ferocious intensity to the climate crisis, warning that the warming ocean \u2013 driven by greenhouse gas emissions \u2013 is likely to make destructive hurricanes more common.<\/p>\n

Holness, whose government set out credit and insurance provisions for a storm similar to last year\u2019s Hurricane Beryl<\/a>, said he was seeking financial support from regional allies, development agencies and the private sector.<\/p>\n

This week, regional and international bodies have been responding to calls for assistance. The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency<\/a> is in Jamaica with its partners, assessing the hurricane\u2019s impact and Jamaica\u2019s specific needs.<\/p>\n

Volunteers unload bottled water for distribution to people affected by the passage of Hurricane Melissa.<\/p>\n

A French warship delivered 40 tonnes of aid to the country on Monday, and the US announced on Tuesday that it was providing $24m in emergency assistance for Caribbean countries hit by the hurricane, including Jamaica, Haiti, the Bahamas and Cuba.<\/p>\n

Across the UK, individuals and groups have been collecting food and basic necessities to support Jamaica. And on Wednesday the British government said it had deployed the Royal Navy with personnel \u201cto help restore vital infrastructure for communities affected by the storm\u201d. This follows the country\u2019s pledge of \u00a37.5m in emergency funding to support the Caribbean\u2019s immediate humanitarian needs. The UK\u2019s support package includes more than 3,000 shelter kits and 1,500 solar-powered lanterns.<\/p>\n

Mud, debris, furniture and people\u2019s belongings trashed outside their homes in the community of Catherine Hall. Photograph: Ina Sotirova\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

The Irish telecoms magnate Denis O\u2019Brien, founder of the Repair Campaign<\/a>, an independent movement for reparatory justice that is supporting calls for slavery reparations for Caribbean nations, said the British aid was insufficient.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien praised the British high commissioner to Jamaica, Alicia Herbert, for quickly mobilising support on the ground in the wake of the hurricane. But he said the UK\u2019s pledge of a \u201cpaltry \u00a37.5m \u2026 is simply not good enough\u201d, considering the likely cost of rebuilding will be about \u00a35bn.<\/p>\n

People\u2019s furniture belongings trashed outside their homes in the community of Catherine Hall after they were severely flooded during the passage of Hurricane Melissa. Photograph: Ina Sotirova\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a direct link between the UK\u2019s shameful past in Jamaica \u2013 and across the Caribbean region \u2013 and the devastation we have witnessed in recent weeks,\u201d O\u2019Brien said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UK extracted billions of pounds\u2019 worth of wealth from Jamaica over hundreds of years, exploiting enslaved people to, in turn, exploit the country\u2019s natural resources. Colonialism wreaked havoc on Jamaica\u2019s natural environment, massively increasing its vulnerability to extreme weather events,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sitting outside her house in muddy slippers amid the ruins left by category 5 Hurricane Melissa that ravaged…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275884,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":{"0":"post-275883","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}