SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — U.N. officials said Thursday that Hurricane Melissa dumped nearly 5 million tons of debris across western Jamaica last week, which they warned could prevent aid to staff and the quick restoration of critical services.
According to the United Nations Development Programme, the amount of debris would fill about 480,000 standard trucks.
“Delays mean blocked roads, disruption of essential services, loss of income and increased suffering, so we must act fast,” said Kishan Khode, the agency’s representative in Jamaica.
Last week’s storm, which affected about 90,000 families in the island’s western region, ripped roofs from 120,000 structures, local government officials said Thursday.
More than a week after the Category 5 storm made landfall, 2,487 people remain in more than 180 shelters open, according to Alvin Gale, director general of Jamaica’s Office of Emergency Management.
Crews are still clearing roads to reach 27 communities cut off by landslides and flooding.
“I hear the cry of every baby now starving in an unreached community, and that goes to bed with me,” said Prime Minister Andrew Holness.
Officials have set up generators and Wi-Fi hubs in some communities, but roughly half of the island remains without power.
“We are making progress every day to provide power, telecommunications, water, road clearing and aid,” Gale said. “We understand these are some challenging times.”
Melissa was one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, and preliminary estimates put the storm at least $6 billion in damage, Holness noted.
Melissa killed at least 32 people in Jamaica and another 43 in nearby Haiti, leaving 13 others missing.
Structures were also damaged in eastern Cuba, where thousands of authorities evacuated before the storm made landfall last week.
“This category five hurricane has caused extensive damage and affected nearly six million people,” said UN Under-Secretary Jorge Moreira de Silva, who is assisting the Office for Project Services in relief and recovery operations in Jamaica. “Especially in Jamaica, the hurricane has destroyed homes and vital infrastructure, costing nearly a third of the nation’s gross domestic product since last year.”
Holness said Melissa affected about 600,000 people in Jamaica, and relief operations will continue for several months.
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