More emergency relief supplies continued to pour into Jamaica on Friday as the international community rallied to the country’s aid a mere three days after Category 5 Hurricane Melissa unleashed death and destruction across the south-western and western sections of the island on Tuesday.
“The support is overwhelming,” Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and Transport Daryl Vaz said as he addressed the now daily post-Hurricane Melissa media briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister in the capital city.
Pointing out that all three international airports will be fully operational when Sangster in Montego Bay resumes commercial flights as of 7:00 Saturday morning, Vaz said, “I’m happy to say that both commercial and relief operations continue at Norman Manley International Airport and we’re expecting in excess of 20 cargo flights coming in today [Friday]. So I want to pause to say that the issue of the relief and the support that we’ve gotten is overwhelming, and we thank our partners all across the world — governments and charitable organisations, NGOs (non-governmental organisations).”
Vaz, however, was quick to caution: “That’s the easy part; the hard part is the logistics of getting the relief into these areas in the shortest possible time, which we are now pretty much out of time [in doing] in terms of the desperation among the citizenry.”
Hours after the media briefing, the Government announced that Desmond McKenzie, the minister of local government and rural development, along with a team from Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, volunteers and donors will be in Black River, St Elizabeth distributing relief supplies to hurricane victims on Saturday, November 1, 2025 at 10:00 am.
In terms of the support, Vaz announced that several helicopters were en route to Jamaica, with between eight and 10 of them coming from the United States Government. “Those are the big helicopters that have the ability to transfer and treat patients that may need on-the-ground treatment plus, of course, be able to carry a lot of relief supplies,” he said.
“Not to mention that some of the charitable organisations that are here, the big ones, have their own assets — private helicopters, and I suspect that by end of today [Friday] we will probably have about six or seven of those,” Vaz added.
“What we will do with that is to coordinate between the JDF (Jamaica Defence Force), who will be overall in charge of the flight operations of those helicopters and, of course, the NGOs, who are anxious to get out there, and the Government’s response through Ministry of Labour and Social Security and other arms of Government to make sure that we have a smooth logistics trying to get into as many communities as possible at the same time, or in succession,” the minister continued.
“I would say to all of those persons who are out there waiting and looking up in the sky that you will start to see movements today [Friday] and you’re going to hear a lot of activity. And I’m sure that will make you feel better once you see it, because you probably are feeling that you’re forgotten. You’re not forgotten, and you will never be forgotten,” Vaz assured.
Information Minister Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon said the authorities were working feverishly to get the relief supplies to those most in need, even while pointing to some of the challenges on the ground.
“We have never had a Category 5 hurricane in our country; the devastation on the west is unimaginable,” Morris Dixon stated. She shared that to better streamline the relief and recovery effort, the Cabinet on Thursday created several subcommittees, the main one being the Relief and Recovery Oversight Committee which is co-chaired by Vaz and McKenzie.
A committee co-chaired by Senator Keith Duncan and Member of Parliament Audrey Marks will collaborate with and involve the private sector. The Government has also moved to mobilise the Church with Minister Olivia Grange tasked with that job. Minister Robert Montague has been tasked with putting together a plan to help people connect with their families.
But, while all this is being sorted out, the reality on the ground in the worst-affected parishes, where some communities have been wiped out, continues to pose serious challenges.
Morris Dixon shared that the National Works Agency has managed to open the road to Westmoreland from Hanover.
“The NWA is also working to find a path, a road, to build it if they have to, or to clear a path from Westmoreland to Black River. They’re working on that now and they’re hoping that by Sunday night that will be in place,” she said.
Meanwhile, Minister McKenzie told the media briefing that the old historic town of Falmouth in Trelawny was all but destroyed.
“In the parishes that are severely impacted work is being done, but challenges are extreme and a lot more will be done over the next couple of days,” he said.
He shared that after finally making contact with the mayor of Falmouth after several days of trying, “It is not a pretty reading coming out of Falmouth, out of Trelawny especially”.
Said McKenzie: “The municipal building has been destroyed, the infirmary destroyed, the roads and works department destroyed, the courthouse destroyed, the Falmouth market badly damaged, the poor relief office badly damaged, the disaster office badly damaged, the fire station badly damaged, both markets in Falmouth severely impacted, and the drop-in centre that was used to house persons during the hurricane has been flooded out and is not fit for purpose as I speak…”
He also reported that the municipal building in St James has been damaged, while infirmary is now roofless and the walkway has been destroyed.
“In St Elizabeth, the municipal building, the infirmary, the fire station — all the markets in St Elizabeth — have been severely damaged by the passage of the hurricane,” McKenzie said.
He also said the five worst affected parishes — St Elizabeth, Westmoreland, St James, Trelawny, and Hanover — have no access to communication. As such, he said the authorities will be providing mayors and the municipalities with access to Starlink in those parishes to ensure they have some level of communication.
Starlink is the satellite Internet constellation operated by international telecommunications provider Starlink Services.
With the revenue base of the municipal corporations severely impacted an assessment is being done “to see how we are going to be able to cushion that fallout”, McKenzie said.
Rory Allen and his children walk on the road along the shore in Black River, St Elizabeth, on Thursday. Allen said the children were with their mother in Middle Quarters when Hurricane Melissa struck on Tuesday. On Thursday, he walked to Middle Quarters to get them and they walked back to the town which was ravaged by the Category 5 hurricane. Allen described the cyclone, flooded his house and took the roof off, as “the mother of all storms”. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)
This house, which residents say was the first in Black River to receive electricity, is left in ruin after Hurricane Melissa’s rampage on Tuesday.Photo: Garfield Robinson
