More than 24 hours after Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, Chris Garwood was still trying to make contact with his mother and sister who live in St. Elizabeth Parish.
Garwood is from St. Elizabeth, considered the breadbasket of Jamaica because it is where most of the island’s agricultural production is produced, and has lived in Hamilton since 2001.
While he waits for news about his relatives, Garwood is part of a community group in Hamilton that has sprung into action, spearheading efforts to help the island nation in its recovery.
“I’m from… the area that was directly affected. That’s where my mother is today, that’s where my brothers are,” Garwood told CBC Hamilton.
“I contacted my brother and I contacted [one of] my sisters [but] I cannot locate my mother and my other sister who were in Santa Cruz. [a town in St. Elizabeth] the moment it hit.
“[In] According to the photographs we have seen, almost all the hydroelectric poles are on the ground, so communication is practically non-existent,” Garwood added.
He said his brother went out Wednesday morning “with his chainsaw to see if he could go see my mom. So, hopefully… I’ll hear something about how my mom and sister did in Santa Cruz.”
Mudslides, downed trees and numerous power outages were reported after Melissa made landfall shortly before 12 pm ET on Tuesday, with winds of 297 km/h, near New Hope in St. Elizabeth, and officials warned that cleanup and damage assessment could be slow.
The hurricane has left dozens dead and also widespread destruction in Cuba and Haiti. Houses without roofs, fallen poles and flooded Furniture dominated the landscape of the three countries on Wednesday.
In Haiti, flooding caused by Melissa killed at least 25 people in the southern coastal city of Petit-Goave, its mayor told The Associated Press.
“St. Elizabeth took a direct hit, and the capital of St. Elizabeth, Black River, has suffered a lot of damage – the roof of Black River Hospital was completely blown off,” Garwood said.
“A church, which was in the middle of Black River, which would have been there for decades, has two walls standing. Everything else is on the ground.”
There is no infrastructure that can support a category 5: Prime Minister of Jamaica
Floodwaters trapped at least three families in their homes in the Black River community, and crews were unable to help them because of the dangerous conditions, said Desmond McKenzie, vice president of the Jamaica Disaster Risk Management Council.
“There is no infrastructure in the region that can support a category 5,” said Prime Minister Andrew Holness. “The question now is the speed of recovery. That is the challenge.”
Garwood is appealing to people in Canada to help in any way they can and says those who decide to help should make sure they use official channels to avoid scammers.
“If people are so moved that they want to help us, they should use official channels,” he said.
“We have already seen some nefarious activities where people post as if they are collecting in the name of Jamaica, using URLs that are very similar to what the government has set up, but it is not the same.”
the gThe Jamaican government has created a website to mobilize support following Hurricane Melissa.
He said people with concerns should call the Jamaican consulate general office in Toronto or the Jamaican high commissioner’s office in Ottawa.
Meanwhile, Garwood said the Jamaica Foundation of Hamilton, where he serves as treasurer, will coordinate local relief efforts, so members of the Hamilton community will be able to donate directly” to the foundation.
All donations will be sent to the Jamaican government, he stated.
‘Jamaica is our homeland and we are worried’
Winsome Plummer, president of the Jamaica Foundation of Hamilton, has lived in the city since 2015.
Originally from the Jamaican parish of St. Ann, Plummer said she has not been able to contact her relatives there since Tuesday because “communications are down,” but the reports she has seen so far suggest that people in that area “are doing well.”
Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica with 200 mph winds and torrential rain, knocking out power and causing catastrophic structural damage.
Plummer said the foundation is still working out the details of the relief effort in Hamilton, and they will be made public soon.
“Jamaica is our homeland and we are concerned. We have families, we have relatives, we have interests in Jamaica,” Plummer told CBC News.
“Jamaica is considered a third world [country] …and we know for a fact that this hurricane will definitely be a stab in terms of its development.”
According to Plummer, given all that Jamaica has to offer the world, “it is important that we rise to the occasion, because Jamaica has benefited.
“So it’s important that we remind our brothers and sisters who may not be as fortunate as us to have other support options. It’s important that we maintain that connection and help where we can,” Plummer added.
