UK aid for Hurricane Melissa reaches Jamaica as Britons to be evacuated
A flight carrying British aid to aid recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Melissa arrived in Jamaica early on Saturday, as the United Kingdom planned its first charter flight to bring British citizens home on Saturday.
The relief flight brought more than 3,000 emergency shelter kits as part of a £7.5 million regional emergency package.
Part of the funding will be used to match donations to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent, whose donors include King Charles and Queen Camilla.
Although aid has arrived in Jamaica in recent days, falling trees and landslides have complicated distribution efforts after Hurricane Melissa devastated parts of the island and killed at least 19 people.
The hurricane reached Jamaica in a category five category on Tuesday and was one of the strongest hurricanes ever measured in the Caribbean.
Melissa scoured the area for several days, leaving a trail of destruction and the deaths of dozens of people. At least 30 people lost their lives in Haiti, while floods and landslides occurred in Cuba.
“There are communities that appear to be zoned and areas that appear to be flattened,” Jamaican Information Minister Dana Morris Dixon said Friday.
The UK initially allocated a £2.5m emergency financial support package, with an additional £5m announced by Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper on Friday.
Cooper said the announcement comes as “more information is coming about the extent of devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa, resulting in damaged homes, road closures and loss of life.”
The British Red Cross said the King and Queen’s donation would help the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) “continue its life-saving work” in Jamaica, which includes search and rescue efforts as well as providing access to healthcare, safe shelter and clean water.
The Red Cross said that as of Saturday morning, 72% of people in Jamaica were still without electricity and about 6,000 people were in emergency shelters.
Until the Jamaican government can get the broken power grid back up and running, any generators that generator charities can distribute will be vital.
Given the extent of the housing crisis, so will tarps.
Meanwhile, while many people need clean drinking water and basic food, patience is wearing thin and reports are mounting of desperate people breaking into supermarkets and collecting whatever food they can find and handing it out.
The BBC saw queues forming for petrol pumps, with people waiting for hours only to be told there was no fuel left when they reached the front of the queue.
Some people are looking for fuel for a generator, others are looking for a car to get to an area where they can communicate with people who are without power across much of the island.
Even though aid entered the country, landslides, downed power lines and fallen trees made some roads impassable.
But some of Jamaica’s worst-hit areas are expected to finally get some relief in the coming hours.
At least one aid organization, the Global Empowerment Mission, set out this morning from Kingston to the badly damaged western Jamaican town of Black River in a convoy of seven trucks to transport humanitarian aid packages put together by volunteers from the Jamaican diaspora community in Florida.
Help is also arriving via helicopter from other aid groups and foreign governments.
This remains only a small part of what affected communities need, but officials insist more will come soon.
There were thought to be around 8,000 British citizens on the island when the cyclone hit.
The UK’s first charter flight to bring British citizens home will depart Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston late on Saturday.
The UK foreign office asked travelers to register their presence on the island.
The ministry also advises passengers to contact their airline to check whether commercial options are available.
