Jamaica struggles to remove debris from Hurricane Melissa as communities remain cut off

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — U.N. officials said Thursday that Hurricane Melissa flung nearly 5 million tons of debris across western Jamaica last week and warned it is preventing crews from delivering aid and restoring critical services quickly.

The amount of debris would fill some 480,000 standard truckloads, according to the United Nations Development Program.

“We need to act fast because delay means blocked roads, vital services at a standstill, lost income and increased suffering,” said Kishan Khoday, the agency’s representative in Jamaica.

Local government officials said Thursday that the storm ripped the roofs off 120,000 structures when it struck last week, affecting some 90,000 families in the island’s western region.

More than 180 shelters remain open, with 2,487 people living in them more than a week after the Category 5 storm made landfall, according to Alvin Gayle, director general of Jamaica’s emergency management office.

Crews are still clearing roads in an attempt to reach 27 communities that remain cut off by landslides and flooding.

“I hear the cry of every baby that is now hungry in a community that is not yet reached. It goes to bed with me,” said Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

Roughly half the island remains without power, although officials have set up generators and Wi-Fi hubs in certain communities.

“We are making progress every day in restoring power, telecommunications, water, clearing roads and delivering aid,” Gayle said. “We understand these have been some challenging times.”

Melissa was one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, with Holness noting that the storm caused at least $6 billion in damage, according to preliminary estimates.

Melissa killed at least 32 people in Jamaica and another 43 in nearby Haiti, where 13 others remain missing.

It also damaged structures in eastern Cuba, where authorities evacuated thousands before the storm made landfall last week.

“This Category five hurricane has left a trail of extensive damage, impacting nearly six million people,” said Jorge Moreira da Silva, the U.N.’s under-secretary-general whose Office for Project Services is helping Jamaica with relief and recovery operations. “Specifically in Jamaica, the hurricane has destroyed homes and vital infrastructure amounting to nearly one third of the nation’s GDP from last year.”

Holness said that Melissa affected some 600,000 people in Jamaica, and that relief operations will be ongoing for several months.

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