Hurricane Melissa made landfall Oct. 28 in Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm with top winds of 185 mph
Editor’s note: This story will be updated.
Catholic faithful in Jamaica are responding with “a lot of prayer” as the island nation was battered by what analysts say is its worst hurricane on record.
“No precaution is ever enough for this kind of catastrophe,” Tanecia Shaw, secretary of the apostolic administration at the Diocese of Montego Bay, said Oct. 27.
A man herded cattle along the coastline in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, Oct. 28 ahead of Hurricane Melissa hitting the island nation. The Category 5 storm, with winds ranging from 175-185 mph, made landfall in southwestern Jamaica near New Hope around 1 p.m. and made landfall early Oct. 29 in Cuba as a Category 3 storm.
Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica Oct. 28 as a strong Category 5 storm, with top winds of 185 mph, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record. On Oct. 29, Dana Morris Dixon, Jamaica’s education minister, said that more than 75% of the island nation was without power.
Prior to landfall, the strom killed three people in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic. The Associated Press reported Oct. 29 that at least 25 people were killed in Haiti when the La Digue river flooded homes in Petit-Goâve.
Authorities said that it would take time to assess the damage, with much of the western part of the country inundated with water. Montego Bay, in the north western part of the country, experienced large amounts of damage.
Hurricane Melissa made a second landfall in Cuba early Oct. 29 as a Category 3 storm. The Bahamas were expected to experience hurricane conditions later that day.
Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ official humanitarian and development outreach, has established a relief fund for victims in Haiti and Jamaica.
CRS noted on its donation page that the “triple threat” of flooding, wind damage and storm surge are poised to hit communities in Jamaica and Haiti hard.
In both nations, CRS said, “many families in the storm’s path live in fragile shelters or informal settlements, where flooding can be devastating and deadly,” creating landslides, displacement and infrastructure damage.
People slept at a school turned into a shelter in Les Cayes, Haiti, Oct. 28, while the Caribbean nation saw downpours from the outer bands of Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall as a Category 3 storm in Cuba early in the morning of Oct. 29 after devastating Jamaica.
With Haiti weakened by multiple, sustained crises — including political instability, armed gang violence, natural disasters, food insecurity foreign intervention and international debt — the storm’s effects are even more dire, CRS said.
“In Haiti, the limited availability of functioning health facilities, combined with ongoing cholera outbreaks, raises concerns about any disruption to water and sanitation services,” CRS said. “Widespread insecurity and poor logistical infrastructure are likely to significantly worsen the impacts of the storm. Urgent needs will be for safe shelter, clean water, food and essential hygiene supplies.”
CRS said it has “extensive experience supporting emergency response efforts across the region for decades, with a team of 100 staff in Haiti and local partners in Jamaica and the region.
“Our emergency teams are securing offices and warehouses, preparing prepositioned shelter and clean water supplies, and helping people secure their businesses, homes and fields,” the agency said.
The Florida-based Cross Catholic Outreach also announced a relief campaign Oct. 27, noting it was working with “trusted Catholic partners on the ground,” including the Diocese of Mandeville “as well as multiple partners in the Dominican Republic,” to “deliver critical aid, including food, medicine and housing supplies.”
“Our hearts and prayers are with all those impacted by Hurricane Melissa,” Michele Sagarino, president of Cross Catholic Outreach, said in an Oct. 27 press release. “In times of disaster, the Church has a unique role to play — to be the hands and feet of Christ for those who are hurting.”
In addition, a GiveSendGo campaign has been set up for the Diocese of Montego Bay, which along with the Diocese of Mandeville and the Archdiocese of Kingston serves the faithful on the island.
A worker wrapped a gas pump as Hurricane Melissa approached Kingston, Jamaica, Oct. 27. Kingston, on the eastern half of the island, appeared to have been spared the worst of the storm, which struck the western portion.
Funds donated to the campaign will provide for immediate needs such as food, water and emergency supplies, as well as rebuilding assistance and long-term pastoral care and community recovery programs, said campaign organizers.
The diocesan efforts are “led by our clergy, religious, and volunteers who are on the ground delivering aid where it’s needed most,” the campaign description said.
As Jamaica braced for the storm, Shaw repeated her plea for prayers as residents “take the necessary precautions.”
“That’s all we can do at this time — that, and try to be safe,” she said.
And “amid the storm, our faith remains unshaken,” organizers of the diocesan hurricane relief campaign said. “We believe in the power of hope, solidarity, and love in action.”
How to help
Catholic Relief Services: Catholics can aid families hit by Hurricane Melissa through Catholic Relief Services at stlreview.com/hurricane-melissa-relief
Cross Catholic Outreach: Support will enable Cross Catholic Outreach to send food, medicines and housing supplies to ministry partners in the Caribbean, including the Diocese of Mandeville in Jamaica and multiple partners in the Dominican Republic crosscatholic.org/hurricane-melissa/
Diocese of Montego Bay, Jamaica: Funds are being collected by the Diocese of Montego Bay to assist with immediate relief such as food and clean water, and rebuilding assistance for homes, churches and parish facilities. www.givesendgo.com/Jamaica
