TORONTO — Rescuers and aid workers fanned out across Jamaica on Saturday to distribute food and water and reach communities still isolated in the wake of Hurricane Melissa.
Essential relief supplies are now rolling into hurricane-stricken St. Elizabeth and Westmoreland, most of which had been cut off by fallen concrete posts and trees strewn across roads.
Social Security Minister Pearnel Charles Jr. was among several convoys of emergency responders en route to deliver ready-to-eat meals, water, tarpaulins, blankets, medicine and other essentials.
“The priority now is to get help to those who need it,” said Charles Jr. during a brief stop en route to Black River for the first time with long-awaited relief supplies. Prime Minister Andrew Holness had declared Black River ground zero and said the town will have to be rebuilt.
More than 60% of the island remains without power. Helicopters have been dropping food in cut-off communities.
On Saturday, the United Nations’ World Food Program received 2,000 boxes of emergency food assistance shipped from Barbados, to be distributed in shelters and in the most-affected communities in the St. Elizabeth area.
“They will help meet the needs of 6,000 people for one week,” said communications officer for WFP Alexis Masciarelli.
Melissa made landfall in southwest Jamaica on Tuesday as a Category 5 hurricane with top winds of 295 kph.
RELIEF MISSIONS FROM CANADA & U.S.
The Canadian Red Cross is sending relief to Jamaica.
More than 18,000 essential items were flown from a warehouse in Mississauga to Jamaica on Friday, where they were to be distributed by Jamaican Red Cross workers. Relief items sent over include shelter kits, blankets, menstrual hygiene products, solar lamps and mosquito nets.
Canadian Red Cross director Nazira Lacayo says those supplies were requested by Jamaica, adding that many people were forced to flee their homes with just the clothes on their back.
She says the items sent are key for people to get through the next few weeks until they can “get back into their regular lives.
A U.S. regional disaster assistance response team was on the ground after being activated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this week, the U.S. Embassy in Jamaica said.
“The United States stands with Jamaica as they respond to the impacts of the hurricane and remains prepared to swiftly deliver emergency relief items,” it said.
The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) said that it would make a record payout to Jamaica of $70.8 million.
The facility enables countries to pool their individual risks to provide affordable coverage against natural disasters. The payout will be made within 14 days, the group said on Friday.
Finance Minister Fayval Williams said Thursday that the CCRIF insurance policy was just one part of the government’s financial plan to respond to natural disasters. She pointed to a contingencies fund, a national natural disaster reserve and a catastrophe bond.
Government officials have said damage assessment is still ongoing.
AIRLINE UPDATES
Air Canada continues to offer its flexible rebooking policy for Kingston and Montego Bay through Nov. 4. Air Canada’s travel advisory page is here.
WestJet has extended its flexible rebooking policy for MBJ and KIN through Nov. 15, and for Holguin, Cuba through Nov. 5. WestJet’s site is here.
Air Transat has updated its list of flight cancellations into Montego Bay and Holguin; click here for more details.
Jamaica and Cuba travel information updated Oct. 30 for Sunwing Vacations passengers can be found here.
The JTB’s FAQ page is here.
With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press
