Death toll rises as aid effort struggles to reach parts of Jamaica

At least 19 people have died in Jamaica as a result of Hurricane Melissa, Information Minister Dana Morris Dixon said, while search and rescue efforts continue and authorities try to deliver aid to hard-hit areas.

The hurricane, one of the strongest to hit the Caribbean, also killed at least 30 people in Haiti, officials say.

Dixon said that in Jamaica, “there are entire communities that appear to be deprived and areas that appear to have been flattened,” with “devastating” scenes in the western regions.

Power remains without power to much of the island, and as people try to save homes and property damaged by floodwaters and mud, several thousand are becoming increasingly desperate for help.

Parts of the country have been without water for days, and food is becoming increasingly scarce.

Aid supplies are beginning to arrive more quickly with the main airport in the Jamaican capital, Kingston, largely back to normal, but smaller regional airports, some of which are located near where humanitarian assistance is needed most, remain only partially operational.

Relief agencies and the military are bringing in much-needed supplies from Kingston by road, but many roads remain impassable in places.

The trip from Mandeville, in the center of the country, to the Black River, which usually takes an hour, takes eight hours because the roads are so torn up.

Army vehicles and relief convoys struggle to get past fallen trees and poles, leaving many people living in the western regions without the aid they need.

On the way to Black River, the BBC saw devastating scenes repeated across the country. Pieces of the road were missing. Men in slippers worked on shingled roofs, repairing missing shingles or installing zinc sheets.

In Santa Cruz, the sound of running generators filled the air, as did the smells of gasoline, diesel exhaust and fresh mud. Everything was wet with mud: the walls, the floors, the people. Coconuts were randomly scattered on an empty plot of land and shopkeepers removed water from the buildings.

Barrington Robinson carried a long, muddy machete over his shoulder as he stopped to talk in the parking lot next to the grocery store where he works as a janitor. He was only able to reach this part of the city by cutting down broken branches in the neighborhood where he lived.

“Everywhere was flooded,” he said. “I’m uncomfortable. I don’t know what to do.”

Satellite images are shown Almost all the buildings are in some Jamaican villages It was destroyed by the hurricane.

Residents of towns in western Jamaica told the BBC on Thursday that “words cannot explain the extent of the devastation caused by the storm” in the country.

“No one can contact their loved ones,” Trevor Ziani-White told the BBC from the town of White House in Westmoreland Parish.

“Everyone, you know, is completely separated… every tree is on the road, so you can’t go far by car, not even by bike,” he said.

Driving from Kingston to Falmouth towards Montego Bay, the scene gets worse. While walking around there are half-roofed buildings and people drying their mattresses on the sides of the road.

People are struggling to return their lives to normal and are trying to evacuate the streets, and the electricity company is trying to move poles.

Jamaica, a very green and mountainous country, has been stripped of land, leaving what look like branches and matchsticks.

In Haiti, several storm victims died when a river overflowed in Petit Goave. A full assessment is underway, as there are still areas that the authorities have not been able to reach.

Interim United Nations Coordinator in Haiti, Gregoire Goodstein, said that about 15,000 people reside in more than 120 shelters in Haiti.

In Cuba, more than 3 million people were exposed to “life-threatening conditions” during the hurricane, and 735,000 people were “safely evacuated,” according to UN Resident Coordinator in Cuba Francisco Pichon.

Cuban authorities said no deaths have been reported so far in Cuba, but nearly 240 communities have been isolated by floods and landslides.

Hurricane Melissa made landfall Tuesday in Jamaica as a Category 5 storm, packing winds of up to 185 mph (295 km/h), before impacting other countries in the Caribbean.

Governments, humanitarian organizations and individuals around the world are pledging support to the countries most affected by the storm.

The World Food Program said it is cooperating with partners to coordinate logistics, cash and emergency supplies in Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The US State Department said it is deploying a disaster response team to the region to assist in search and rescue operations, and assist with efforts to provide food, water, medical supplies, hygiene supplies and temporary shelters.

The UK government said on Friday it was mobilizing an additional £5 million ($6 million) to send humanitarian supplies, including shelter kits and solar-powered lanterns, to help people without electricity and whose homes have been damaged.

This is in addition to the £2.5 million ($3.36 million) already announced in emergency humanitarian funding to support recovery in the Caribbean.

The Foreign Office is also preparing flights to evacuate British citizens who are unable to return home on commercial flights.

While Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti assessed the damage caused by Melissa, Bermuda braced for the impact.

The Bermuda Meteorological Service predicted Melissa would be a Category 2 hurricane when it passed through the British Overseas Territory on Thursday evening.

Bermuda government offices will be closed until Friday afternoon and all schools will be closed on Friday.

“Until the official order is issued, residents are urged to stay off the roads so government crews can safely assess and remove the debris,” a public alert from the government said.