Jamaica — Five days after Hurricane Melissa hit the western part of Jamaica with unprecedented force, thousands of residents along the coast are still waiting for no help.
The streets are full of debris and the trees are falling, leaving a lot of isolated areas. The living are without electricity, without clean water, and with little food.—While hope for return to normal life is still far away.
The Jamaican government reported at least 28 people died Due to the five category storm, it carried the wind up 297 km per hour. That number went up almost 50 percent overnight, and it was estimated to be increasing as the rescue team reached its previous severed regions.
Local officials, Dr. Dayton Campbell, say Ten fatalities. from region Westmoreland, one of the most severely affected areas other than St. Elizabeth's in the southeast—where around Ninety percent of people's homes are destroyed to the ground.
Dementia, silence, and fragrant hope
The journey to Westmoreland is now like passing through a tree grave.—The broken rod and twig cover the road as far as the eye can see, proof of how violent Hurricane Melissa is, the strongest storm in the modern history of Jamaica.
On the side of the road, a pile of ruins stood next to a broken building and a container turned upside down. A number of residents appear to be walking through debris, while police officers and volunteers struggle to open access to the machete at hand.
An armed police escort truck backup told the BBC:
"We don't know what awaits ahead. All we see is total destruction."
'Help Never Coming '
In the coastal city Whitehouse, a small economic center in Westmoreland, citizens are getting desperate for help.
Gary WilliamsWho lost his home, sitting in front of a building with no roof while staring at nothing.
"They said help was coming, but until now no one showed up,"
"I have no place to stay. Maybe tonight I'll sleep here, on the terrace."
Another woman said softly:
"Words cannot describe the circumstances. Too horrible. There are people here with no hope... no life."
Jamaican Disconnected from the outside world
Around 400,000 citizens Still no power until last Friday, and many have lost cell phone signals or Internet access. The government is attempting to reactivate communication with 200 StarLink devices It was installed at various points.
Transport Minister Daryl Vaz Admit the slow response of the government, call there a lot of obstacles such as Fuel, access, and bad weather.
Temporary Prime Minister Andrew Holness asserting the current primary focus is The cleaning of debris, restoring important services, as well as the distribution of food and medicine.
The faint in the Center of Destruction
In a fishing village near Whitehouse, Robert Morris sit among the concrete ruins where he once lived.
"Everything was destroyed. Home, boat, workplace... Melissa leveled it all," she said.
"No help, no food, no water. We're on our own."
But in the midst of the destruction, the Jamaican spirit has not been extinguished.
Roy Perry, who lost everything, kept trying to be strong:
"We must still have faith. There is still hope."
Temporary Oreth Jones, a farmer with a wounded leg who still sells his last crop, adds:
“Semua tanaman rusak, tapi kami harus bersyukur masih hidup. Yang bisa kami lakukan sekarang hanya berdoa.”
Bantuan Internasional Mulai Datang
Harapan mulai terlihat dari luar negeri. Pemerintah Amerika Serikat telah mengirim tim tanggap darurat, sementara Inggris dan sejumlah negara lain berkomitmen menyalurkan jutaan dolar bantuan serta pasokan darurat untuk membantu Jamaika bangkit dari bencana terburuk dalam sejarahnya.
