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Jamaica asks State Department for help assisting people affected by Hurricane Melissa
The State Department has received a formal request from Jamaica to assist people affected by Hurricane Melissa and is working with the government accordingly, a State Department spokesperson said.
The State Department declined to say whether a Disaster Assistance Response Team had been deployed in advance of the Category 5 storm to help prestage U.S. aid or preposition to assist U.S. citizens. The spokesperson also declined to provide an official estimate as to how many U.S. citizens are currently in Jamaica.
“U.S. citizens are not required to register their travel to a foreign country with us, so we cannot track with fidelity how many Americans are residing in or visiting a particular country at a particular time,” the spokesperson said.
Two U.S. officials say there are thousands of American tourists who are visiting Jamaica, most of them on the western shorelines that are most impacted by the hurricane.
The spokesperson said the State Department is “committed to assisting U.S. citizens abroad and stands ready to provide consular assistance to American citizens affected by Hurricane Melissa,” adding that American citizens in Jamaica and other countries that might be affected by the storm should register in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program for safety and security updates.
China sends aid parcels to Cuba
China’s ambassador to Cuba posted a video on X showing the transportation of hundreds of boxes of what he called “family kits,” along with pictures of their contents: footwear, toothbrushes, forks, spoons, bowls, umbrellas and thermal blankets, among others.
“The damage is expected to be considerable,” Hua Xin wrote.
The products were pre-positioned in eastern Cuba ahead of the hurricane and were delivered by the Chinese Red Cross to its Cuban counterpart.
Last huge hurricane to hit Jamaica and region caused $10 billion in damage
The most powerful hurricane to strike Jamaica directly before Melissa, Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, caused an estimated $10 billion in damage to the region overall, the U.S. Hurricane Center said in a report.
That includes damage to Mexico and other areas that were hit, but it underscores the high cost of extreme weather events like a Category 5 hurricane.
Gilbert made landfall in Jamaica on Sept. 12, 1988, as a Category 4 hurricane with 130 mph winds — although it later strengthened to Category 5 before it hit Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.
The storm resulted in 319 deaths. Most were from flooding in Mexico, according to the NHC report, which was a review of the weather event. The storm later hit the Brownsville, Texas, area.
Jamaica has insurance provisions that will be triggered by the impacts, and it has access to credit facilities, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said at a news briefing yesterday.
Hurricane Beryl, a Category 4 storm that passed by Jamaica last year, had an impact on two quarters of Jamaica’s gross domestic product performance and dragged down growth, Holness said.
“We should be able to mount a response, but that is all dependent on the level of catastrophe,” he said.
“So, if it’s a Beryl-type catastrophe, or maybe even a little bit more than Beryl, we should be able to manage. If it’s bigger than that, then we’ll have to recraft,” he said.
But the storm had an impact on Jamaica’s economy even before it struck, by closing businesses and hotels and airports, he said.
Cuba evacuating around 500,000 people
Authorities in Cuba have planned to move half a million people to safer ground as the country prepares for an overnight landfall by Melissa, a spokesperson for the U.N. said today.
In Haiti, the World Food Program has pre-positioned more than 800,000 metric tons of food to assist around 86,000 people for two weeks in the impoverished nation, spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said at a briefing.
Hurricane Melissa is forecast to move over southeastern Cuba "in the next few hours," the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Tropical storm conditions are expected in Haiti tonight and tomorrow.
The storm is now a Category 4 hurricane, and it is expected to reach Cuba as “an extremely dangerous major hurricane,” the NHC said.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said in a national address that the hurricane could be the strongest to ever pass through the nation’s territory, The Associated Press reported.
Melissa restrengthens to Category 4 on path toward Cuba
Melissa once again strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane as it approaches Cuba for a landfall that was forecast to happen in the "next few hours," the U.S. National Hurricane Center said at 11 p.m. ET.
The storm had maximum sustained winds of 130 mph — up from 125 mph earlier in the night — and its center was about 110 miles southwest of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the NHC said in a bulletin. It was moving northeast at 9 mph.
The core of the hurricane is expected to move over eastern Cuba tonight or tomorrow morning, the NHC said.
In addition to the damaging winds, it could bring 10 to 20 inches of rain, with local areas getting up to 25 inches over mountainous terrain, the agency said.
"This will cause life-threatening and potentially catastrophic flash flooding with numerous landslides," the NHC said.
A storm surge with peaks of 8 to 12 feet above normal tide levels is forecast for the southeast coast of Cuba.
In Jamaica, which was hard-hit by the then-Category 5 storm earlier today, hurricane warnings were dropped to a tropical storm warning, but the storm is still expected to drop an additional 4 to 8 inches of rain, the NHC said. Total rainfall from the storm in Jamaica could be 2 feet, it said.
Miami Heat gives $1 million to help with recovery efforts
The Miami Heat has donated $1 million to the humanitarian organization Direct Relief to assist with Hurricane Melissa recovery efforts, the NBA said in a statement.
The donation is being made in partnership with the Micky and Madeleine Arison Family Foundation and Carnival Corporation & plc. The three organizations have given more than $17 million to Direct Relief’s crisis response since 2013.
“In Florida, we are all too familiar with the widespread devastation caused by a Category 5 storm,” Eric Woolworth, president of the Heat Group’s business operations, said in a statement. “Direct Relief provides life-saving and ongoing assistance, which is so critical as residents begin the long road to rebuilding their communities.”
A spokesperson for the nonprofit group told The Associated Press, "Direct Relief will help sustain healthcare access after the storm and support Jamaica health facilities, many of which are in coastal and low-lying areas.”
‘The Parish of St. Elizabeth is underwater,’ Jamaican official says
There has been extensive damage and flooding in St. Elizabeth Parish in the southwestern part of the country, a government official said after Melissa tore across the island.
“What I can tell you: The Parish of St. Elizabeth is underwater,” said Desmond McKenzie, minister of local government and community development. “The damage to St. Elizabeth is extensive, based on what we have seen.”
The border of the parish is just east of New Hope, which is where the Category 5 storm made landfall around 1 p.m. ET today.
Seventy-five patients were moved to safety from a hospital in Black River after the facility lost power and there was roof damage, and 50 patients in an infirmary in Santa Cruz, where there was flooding, were being relocated to a different part of the facility, he said.
530,000 Jamaicans reported to be without power
Over 530,000 Jamaicans were without power following Hurricane Melissa as of 4 p.m., the country’s minister of local government and community development said.
The number of those without power are up around 77% of Jamaica Public Service Company customers islandwide, Desmond McKenzie said at a news conference.
“Work is presently on the way to restore our service, to give priorities to the critical facilities such as hospitals and water and pumping stations, weather permitting,” McKenzie said.
Around 15,000 Jamaicans went to shelters bthe hurricane, he said.
Category 3 Hurricane Melissa leaves Jamaica, on way to Cuba
Hurricane Melissa has gone out to sea after having carved a swath through Jamaica and is headed toward Cuba, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said at 8 p.m. ET.
The storm was a Category 3 storm with 125 mph winds, and its center was around 160 miles southwest of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the NHC said. It was moving north-northeast at 8 mph.
The weather agency said it is still a powerful hurricane that threatens to bring up to 20 inches of rain and damaging winds to the eastern part of Cuba.
Hurricane conditions are expected in parts of Cuba tonight through tomorrow morning, and tropical storm conditions are forecast for Haiti.
“Melissa is expected to remain a powerful hurricane when it moves across Cuba, the Bahamas, and near Bermuda,” the NHC said.
Jamaica begins to take stock after storm plows through
Strong, whipping winds are expected to continue across Jamaica throughout the night.
And because so many roads are impassable, damage assessment was only just beginning this evening after a devastating direct hit from Melissa.
The monster storm unleashed raging floodwaters and a life-threatening surge. Hundreds of thousands are without power, and 25,000 tourists were stranded after flights were canceled.
