The State Department is deploying emergency teams to the Caribbean to help in the response to Hurricane Melissa, which has battered Jamaica and nearby island nations.
“In response to catastrophic damage caused by Hurricane Melissa in many Caribbean countries, @StateDept is deploying a regional Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) and activated US-based Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams to bolster response efforts,” the State Department said on Wednesday.
“These teams are working with affected countries and local communities to determine what assistance is needed and with interagency, international, and U.S. military partners to coordinate emergency response efforts,” the statement continued.
The Trump administration told The Hill it does not have any additional details to provide about the effort.
Hurricane Melissa was making its way across Cuba as a Category 3 storm on Wednesday, after hitting Jamaica as one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record.
The storm reached top sustained winds of 185 mph before weakening as it made its way across land in Jamaica. More than half a million customers on the island were left without power late Tuesday, and officials reported that most of the nation saw extensive flooding and damage to trees and power lines.
Desmond McKenzie, deputy chairman of Jamaica’s Disaster Risk Management Council, said the storm damaged four hospitals and left one without power, forcing 75 patients to evacuate.
McKenzie said extensive damage was reported in parts of Clarendon in the south, describing the southwestern parish of St. Elizabeth as “under water.”
Seven people have been reported to have died in the Caribbean already as a result of the storm, including three in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic.
The Jamaican government said it’s hoping to reopen the island’s airports as early as Thursday to allow emergency supplies to enter the country.
The Associated Press contributed.
