Hurricane-hit towns in Jamaica await aid

Five days after Hurricane Melissa hit western Jamaica with record-breaking force, residents of devastated coastal communities are still desperately waiting for help.

Many of the roads are blocked by debris and people are isolated with little food, no electricity or running water and no idea when normalcy will return.

The government said on Saturday that at least 28 people in Jamaica had died since the hurricane struck as a monster Category Five storm with sustained winds of 185 mph (297 km/h).

That’s a nearly 50 percent jump in the number of deaths overnight, and the number could rise as officials clear their way in new parts of the island in the coming days.

Local official Dr Dayton Campbell told the BBC that 10 of those deaths were in Westmorland.

The parish of Westmoreland is believed to have the second highest number of unconfirmed deaths after St Elizabeth in the South East. The eye of the storm hit somewhere between the two neighboring parishes. Approximately 90% of the homes in St. Elizabeth were destroyed.

A long stretch of road heading west towards Westmorland parish winds through a graveyard of trees – piles of branches and limbs, cracked and twisted, covering the landscape for miles. It’s a grim testament to the ferocity of Hurricane Melissa – it was the strongest storm to hit the Caribbean island in modern history.

Piles of debris piled up along the parish’s shores, next to destroyed buildings, overturned shipping crates and crowds of people wading through the wreckage.

On Saturday morning, men with machetes cut branches as thick as their arms, clearing stretches of road where traffic was at a standstill.

A police officer with an automatic weapon strapped to his chest, part of a convoy accompanying an aid truck on its way to Westmoreland, jumped out of his vehicle to help direct traffic.

“We don’t know what’s coming,” the officer told the BBC, describing what he saw as “total devastation”.

People living in Whitehouse, a coastal town and shopping center on the edge of Westmoreland Parish, say the wait for help is becoming frustrating.

Gary Williams said he had heard promises of aid coming in but “they are not showing up”.

He sat in the shade on a makeshift stool in front of a building that was barely standing – its entire roof destroyed – unsure of what to do next.

Williams said he lost his house in the storm and “has no place to live,” suggesting he can sleep right where he is, outside on the front porch.

Another woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “Words can’t explain the situation we’re in. It’s terrible. I don’t even know what to say. So many hopeless, helpless and lifeless people here right now.”

About 400,000 people in Jamaica were without power on Friday, and countless others have no access to cell phone service or Wi-Fi, cut off from the outside world.

Jamaica’s Transport Minister Darryl Vaz announced on Saturday that more than 200 StarLink devices have been deployed across the island to help people access the internet.

He addressed the criticism the government had received for its response, saying there were “several factors” contributing to the delays.

“Fueling, landing zones, accessibility and weather/visibility,” Vaz told X.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness called for the “immediate focus to be on clearing the debris, restoring essential services” as well as providing food and medical supplies.

But that would only solve part of the problem.

In a small community just outside Whitehouse, Robert Morris leaned on a slab of broken concrete. Behind him, the fishing village he had called home all his life was destroyed, along with his livelihood.

“We’re all devastated here, man,” he said. He said the boathouse had been demolished and was now “flat”.

“Melissa knocked everything over,” he said, including his fishing boat, which he described as “crumpled up.”

Morris also said of “no help, no food, no water”.

“We just have to try and see what we can do,” he said, adding that his plan is to find someone whose boat is still intact so he can join and fish.

Even then, he is not sure where he would sell his catch.

The people of these areas are full of pride and resilience, words that are often repeated on local radio stations and seen through their optimism in the most difficult circumstances.

Sitting beneath the facade of a badly damaged building, Roy Perry said he had lost everything but “we just have to keep the faith and the hope is still hot”.

“I can’t quit. I won’t quit,” he said.

It’s the same tone adopted by Orett Jones, a farmer sitting in the bed of his truck selling pears, pumpkins and sweet potatoes—the last of his produce that was spared by the storm.

Of his farm, he said, “It’s all destroyed. Everyone’s destroyed.” But he quickly followed it up with, “We should thank God we’re alive.”

Jones survived the worst hurricane in Jamaican history while injured, wearing a home-made splint on his right leg from a fracture he sustained in a bicycle accident before Melissa hit.

Asked how the community would move forward, he said: “Pray. There’s nothing else we can do. Nothing else.”

Meanwhile, foreign aid began to flow into Jamaica.

The US State Department announced on Friday that its disaster relief team had arrived. And countries including the UK have also pledged millions in relief funds and emergency supplies.