Jamaican communities are still reeling from the destruction of Hurricane Melissa, which passed over the island last week. The Category 5 storm caused destruction amounting to nearly one-third of Jamaica’s GDP, leaving many residents in dire need of assistance. Yet as floodwaters rushed through homes, families lost their lives and livelihoods in some of the most terrifying circumstances imaginable.
Narva Maxwell Taylor, a resident of Catherine Hall in Montego Bay, shared the frightening experience of having to ride out the hurricane. Her home was literally flooded with waters, actually moving sinkholes and destroying everything. The thick silt that filled her house’s floor turned her once-familiar home—her children’s play area, her bedroom—into a muddy mess of destroyed memories and cut-up furniture.
“We have to give God thanks we are alive. We could be dead. But everything is gone. I don’t have anything left now,” – Narva Maxwell Taylor
Taylor is not alone in her struggle. The storm’s devastation struck Montego Bay deeply, and Deputy Mayor Dwight Crawford experienced the shock in a personal way. He lost several sections of his roof in the hurricane. He mentioned the emotional toll of the disaster on communities, mentioning how terrifying of an experience this was for many.
“A selfless job. You have to extend yourself. So I’ve left my wife and kids at home without water and electricity to come out here and help the persons that are in need,” – Dwight Crawford
The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency has deployed Rapid Response Teams to Jamaica. They are still gauging the total damage and determining what exactly is needed to recover. Thanks to hurricane Melissa, climate scientists have been forced to make some truly concerning conclusions. They observe a deeply concerning connection between the storm’s severity and the approaching climate catastrophe. If ocean temperatures, which are largely being driven up by greenhouse gas emissions, keep rising, hurricanes like Ian may be the new normal.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness has mobilized efforts to secure financial support from regional allies, development agencies, and the private sector to assist in recovery efforts. He noted that the federal government had already established credit and insurance measures in advance of storms such as Hurricane Beryl. This was the case last year.
International aid has started to flow in, but it’s not enough, locals are saying. In response, the UK government promised £7.5 million in emergency funding to tackle immediate humanitarian needs across the Caribbean and bolstered frontline response capabilities. Many community leaders and local business leaders have decried this sum as insufficient.
Irish telecoms magnate Denis O’Brien expressed disappointment with the British aid package, estimating that the rebuilding costs could reach about £5 billion. He contextualised the history, including Britain’s complicity in Jamaica’s suffering.
“The UK extracted billions of pounds’ worth of wealth from Jamaica over hundreds of years, exploiting enslaved people to, in turn, exploit the country’s natural resources. Colonialism wreaked havoc on Jamaica’s natural environment, massively increasing its vulnerability to extreme weather events,” – Denis O’Brien
Residents have simply expressed their outrage and exasperation at having to wait while help is needed now, as passion from the frontlines pours into Twitter. Erica Jenkinson, a local resident, explained her frustration with the lack of help.
“We don’t see anybody come around as yet … nobody at all. We need water to drink and to wash clothes. Mostly we want food to eat. We don’t have any food like that. All the banana trees, the coconut trees are blown down. We need help,” – Erica Jenkinson
Even under these difficult situations, admirable work is being done to preserve hope in communities impacted by these issues. Prime Minister Holness commented on the importance of the need to lead with vision and to bring order to bear on confusion.
“All of us have been on the ground trying to see to it that we restore a level of order … we’re trying to maintain hope for the people and lead with purpose so that they feel that we’re in it with them and they haven’t been left alone,” – Andrew Holness (implied)
Jamaica is just beginning a long and painful road to recovery. Even now, its citizens are calling loudly and passionately for this aid to be delivered quickly and effectively. Thousands still hold out hope that relief will arrive any day now, but as the days slip by without support, hope starts to give way to skepticism.
Crazy Neil, a local community member, reflected on the situation, suggesting that overwhelmed authorities may simply be taking time to respond effectively.
“I 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’t reached to them as yet,” – Crazy Neil
This urgency for relief marks a pivotal moment for Jamaica as it continues to recover from the ongoing disaster of Hurricane Melissa’s catastrophic effects. The collective voices from within affected communities call for immediate action and long-term strategies to mitigate future disasters exacerbated by climate change.