Jamaica: Number of deaths elevated after Hurricane Melissa | EUROtoday

As of: November 2nd, 2025 2:26 p.m

The variety of deaths after Hurricane Melissa has risen within the Caribbean state of Jamaica. Some areas are nonetheless reduce off from the surface world. Around 80 Germans had been taken in a foreign country on a particular flight.

The devastating hurricane “Melissa” has value much more lives within the Caribbean than was beforehand identified. According to authorities figures, there at the moment are 28 confirmed deaths in Jamaica alone. There are additionally reviews of different potential victims that also have to be checked.

There had beforehand been speak of 19 confirmed deaths. The cyclone that hit a number of island states within the Caribbean final week claimed the lives of at the very least 59 folks within the area.

Construction of area hospitals deliberate

In Jamaica, complete areas have been devastated. In the hard-hit group of Black River within the south of the nation, as much as 90 p.c of the roofs of homes have been destroyed, Prime Minister Andrew Holness mentioned. “Black River is what you would describe as ground zero,” he mentioned. “People are still trying to understand the destruction.”

Because the devastating hurricane broken many hospitals, the Jamaican authorities is planning to construct area hospitals in 5 western districts. The first of those shall be in-built Black River as we speak, Health Minister Christopher Tufton introduced. He expects that with the assistance of the World Health Organization (WHO) and a number of other nations, together with Spain, Canada and India, will probably be potential to arrange extra area hospitals.

Jamaica’s medical associations urged medical professionals to volunteer on the Black River Hospital. The medical doctors had been wanted to alleviate colleagues who had been working continuous within the broken native clinic for days, the Nationwide portal reported.

Destroyed fields, destroyed harvests

The World Food Program (WFP) has delivered 5,000 meals parcels to Jamaica, sufficient to feed round 15,000 folks for per week. But complete areas stay reduce off from the surface world. Broken timber and masts proceed to dam entry routes for the transport of reduction items.

In the significantly hard-hit areas of southwest Jamaica, persons are having nice issue accessing meals and water. In addition, a big a part of the harvest was destroyed by the hurricane. “Melissa” swept via areas which are key to agriculture, Agriculture Minister Flyod Green informed The Gleaner newspaper.

Warning about consuming spoiled meals

Fields are destroyed, the markets are empty – along with an absence of meals for the island’s residents, this additionally means issues for exports, says Green: Almost all the nation’s candy potatoes, Jamaica’s most essential agricultural export, are grown within the affected area.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Tufton warned of well being dangers from spoiled meals and contaminated water. “I know it is a difficult time and I know that food is precious, but it can be dangerous to consume contaminated food,” he mentioned at a information convention. The drawback is that in lots of locations folks nonetheless haven’t got electrical energy to chill their meals.

Germans flown out with particular plane

After quite a few holidaymakers had been stranded in Jamaica as a result of hurricane, virtually 80 German holidaymakers had been flown out on Sunday with a particular TUI fly aircraft. A spokesman for the journey firm mentioned that this was virtually the total variety of German bundle vacation company from TUI in Jamaica.

According to the federal government in Kingston, about 25,000 vacationers had been in Jamaica when the devastating hurricane hit the island. The Foreign Office mentioned there have been additionally a excessive double-digit variety of Germans amongst them. Although the primary business flights had been scheduled to take off from the nation’s largest airport in Montego Bay yesterday, most of them had been canceled – together with a Condor flight to Frankfurt with which 150 passengers wished to go away.

Places in Cuba grow to be extra remoted from the surface world

“Melissa” handed over Jamaica on Tuesday as a hurricane of the best class 5. The US Hurricane Center in Miami spoke of one of many strongest hurricanes ever to happen within the Atlantic. After Jamaica, the hurricane reached Cuba and the Bahamas.

The hurricane brought on extreme flooding, energy outages and landslides in Cuba. Many cities remained reduce off from the surface world on the weekend. However, the nation has not but suffered any fatalities. Over 735,000 folks in japanese Cuba had been evacuated earlier than the hurricane hit – out of a inhabitants of round ten million. According to present findings, there was little injury within the Bahamas and Bermuda.

However, persistent rain brought on extreme flooding and landslides in Haiti, despite the fact that the storm didn’t make direct landfall there. At least 30 folks died there. There was one fatality within the neighboring Dominican Republic.