The Current - Jamaicans confront the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa

Episode Date: October 29, 2025

Jamaicans on the island and in diasporas across Canada are taking stock of the damage after Hurricane Melissa made landfall on the Caribbean island Tuesday.

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Donate at lovescarbro.cairbo. This is a CBC podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and this is the current podcast. Jamaica's gone through what I can call one of its worst period. Our infrastructure has been severely compromised. St. Elizabeth is the breadbasket of the country, and that has taken a beating. The entire Jamaica has felt the brunt of Melissa.

Jamaicans are waking up. to extensive damage all across their country, as we heard from Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Desmond McKenzie. But with power out for more than half a million people, only 30% of internet working on some areas cut off from each other, the full extent of what the storm has done remains to be seen. Hurricane Melissa has today made landfall in Cuba,

down to a category three now, but with sustained winds still just under 200 kilometers an hour. In Jamaica, it was the worst. storm to hit in the country's recorded history. Janet Fisher is in Manderville, Jamaica in the south central part of the country. Good morning, Janet. Good morning. How are you doing? Well, I'd like to know how you're doing, Janet. It's been an extraordinary few hours you've been through. It has been. I am as good as fine as I can be. I am still a little shocked, but I'm okay, coping. Tell me what it was like when the hurricane hit.

It was lethal. That's the only word I can use to explain. It was hard. The rain was pouring. The wind was high. It was like you're in a tornado. It was rough. You lost your electricity.

Are you still in the dark right now? Yes, we're still in the dark. We have candles, but we're still in the dark. It will be for a little time. The devastation was so much. The power company won't. won't be able to fix this for a few weeks or months. Months?

So probably months. Some places will be months. It's really hard, especially in the western end, the central and western end of the country, it's going to be difficult. But I know they're trying. They're willing to start restoration like today. But some places are going to be too remote to get it quickly. What about your family?

Janet, have you been able to reach everyone? I have reached most people. My father is still out in the cold, basically. I will see him today. Hopefully I'm going to, if it means walking, I will walk. It's about 30 minutes, 45 minutes walk, about a 10 minutes drive, but I have to see him today. Your father, I believe, is 83 years old. What was he doing to try to get through this storm? How was he keeping safe? His house is relatively safe, except that it might have a few links. I went to the supermarket. I got him. His medication, he has enough medication for a month. And I went and removed some furniture from the possible leak areas.

He's a happy, good, lucky person. He said the Lord will protect him. So I think he's fine. He's just not, you can't connect to his phone right now? No, no, because he lost power and apparently he didn't charge up. 100%. Have you been able to take a look outside at all to get a sense of what

the damage is like near you? I looked outside yesterday. Trees are down. I'm sure roads are blocked. Power lines are down. But that's as far as I could see. I'm sure it's going to be worse when I get out there today. The road, they are in a deplorable steep.

The water ran on the road, so they have holes, potholes in them at this point. What do you think Jamaica is going to need most moving forward? Assistance in terms of the persons who I need most are those who have lost homes. I saw home yesterday on video, somebody I know, the water was up to the roof. It means he has lost everything. So they will be most in need. So it will be bedding, it will be probably food for some person.

I'm going to be a lot. Basic, basic items, basic, basic, basic items. Persons who will lose cars and so on, they will have food and clothes and so on. But the persons who have lost everything, I think those persons will be most vulnerable. Well, Janet, I wish you well, trying to get in touch with your father

and stay safe on that incredible walk to find him. Thank you. Thank you. Janet Fisher is in Mandeville, Jamaica, in the south-central part of the country. Mark Bennett is in Manchester Parish, which was hard hit by the storm. You know, you could hear the wind pounding against the windows. If you glanced through the windows, especially right before the night, you know, before it got really dark, you could see trees were bending with the force of the wind. You thought they were going to snap.

A few did snap in the back of my yard. we'd have a lot of cleanup to do. Colin Boggle is a community organizer and advisor for Mercy Corps Disaster Relief based near Kingston in Jamaica. Hello. Good morning. How are you doing this morning, Colin?

Shaken, but thankfully safe. What was it like when the storm hit? It was very scary, especially when it hits at night. It's something primal almost, I think. You just hear this loud roar and everything around you is just like rattling and shaking, and you're not able to do anything most except hunker down. It's very scary.

What about your community, your friends, your family? How are people telling you that they have gotten through this? Well, thankfully, Portmore here on the southeast side of Jamaica, the storm shifted over towards the western part of the island. So we weren't as badly impacted as we thought might have been the case initially. It was not as horrific as I was worried it would have been. That's really been the story of this hurricane, I would say, is that it's been an uneven impact. You know, there are people who already have the capacity to whether these kinds of phenomena

who may be like more affluent and they're already okay or beginning to rebuild, whereas there are people who don't have that capacity, many of them unfortunately were more directly impacted for whom I think it will take years to recover. From what I can gather, the storm really impacted the western part of the island, which is the breadbasket of the island. That's where a lot of our farming takes place. It's also a bit more rural, so a lot of fishing communities, a lot of farming communities, just complete devastation over there, complete devastation. So what needs to happen now to help people who are, as you say, underwater or perhaps had very little means even before the storm hit? Honestly, I think it's many different things at once.

I think in the most immediate term, people will be requiring things like mosquito repellent, you know, assistance rebuilding their houses, possibly financial assistance in some capacity, just to be able to recover. Then in the medium term, the island on a whole will be requiring, will be requiring assistance to rebuild our agricultural capacity. In the more long term, we're going to have to find ways to recover and, like, respond and adapt to these kinds of situations because, as most people can recall here in Jamaica, we were hit by Hurricane Burrell last year. That was a historic storm, and now we've been hit by Hurricane Melissa, also a historic storm. So it may very well be that this is the new normal that we have to prepare for this every year. What do you think Jamaica is going to need from countries like Canada now, as you assess the damage? Honestly, I think we need a radical restructuring of how climate change, a lot more climate action, honestly.

I think that's probably a more structural making of how our system operates as it results to climate change. Everyone in Jamaica, or at least many people in Jamaica, are radically aware of the fact that we did not cause this disaster. We're not the ones primarily responsible for global warming, yet we are one of the ones most impacted. I'm not laying the blame at the feet of the average Canadian, but I am saying that as we enter into many of these high-level climate negotiations later on in the year, we do need a radical restructuring of things like debt forgiveness, of things like emission standards, of things like just the paradigms of development within which we operate. That's more long-term, more structural. In the more immediate term, we are going to need just like seeds, seedlings.

To help those farmers that you described. Yes, yes, yes, yes. But we might need like a lot of laborers temporarily to come in and help us out with things, tools, so on and so forth. Just assistance in kind of like picking up the pieces. Really? Listen, Colin, we wish you and everyone in Jamaica. Good luck with that process of picking up the pieces.

Thank you for your time this morning. Mm-hmm. Thank you. Colin Bogle is a community organizer and advisor for Mercy Corps disaster relief. We reached him near Kingston, Jamaica. This ascent isn't for everyone. You need grit to climb this high this often. You've got to be an underdog that always over delivers.

You've got to be 6,500 hospital staff. staff, 1,000 doctors, all doing so much with so little. You've got to be Scarborough. Defined by our uphill battle in always striving towards new heights. And you can help us keep climbing. Donate at lovescarbro.cairbo.ca.a. Norval Morso is one of the most famous indigenous artists ever. Looking at his paintings, it's easy to see why. Colors are intense.

Color is medicine. But look a little closer and you'll see something else. We believe it's the world's biggest art fraud. There are thousands of fake Norval-Morosso paintings beneath some of these forgeries, assaults, abuse, and even an unsolved murder. I want my paint black. I know you killed that boy. Forged. Available now wherever you get your podcasts. Well, for many Canadians, this is also a moment of great worry. There are about a quarter of a million people of Jamaican descent living in Canada.

David Betty is one of them. moved to Canada from Kingston, Jamaica in 2001. He's the president of the Jamaican Canadian Association and lives in Caledon, Ontario. David, good morning. Yes, good morning. Good morning. So how have you done in trying to reach your friends and family back home? Pretty mixed bag.

I've reached individuals in Kingston and in St. Catherine. I've still not been able to make any contact with anyone in St. Mary since the storm. The hurricane has passed. What has this moment been like for Jamaican Canadians? I mean, there was so much build up to this moment, the sense of this impending catastrophic storm. Yes, yes, there was, and I guess still is, because a lot of people like myself,

I've not heard from everybody, so there's still anxiety wanting to know, you know, how we've feared, everyone has feared out. And a lot of hope, though, that we will come out without a lot of casualty and a lot of damage. I mean, one can only hope, but we also figure that it might be catastrophic, which it seems as if based on the preliminary reports, it is in a lot of areas. What are you most anxious to know about the, I mean, obviously your loved ones,

but in terms of the state of the country, what is it right now that you are most anxious to hear? I think it is, of course, you know, mostly safety life that we have not lost, And we suspect there may be some tragedy, but maybe that is minimal. That's the first I'm hoping that it is minimal, because life is precious. But also, and not that this does going to happen, but now we have something left off for a food supply somewhat. And, of course, now we can also traverse the country soon. I don't know how bad the damage the roads are.

I know the airport, at least the one in Montague, in St. James, that has been damaged. and we're not sure when that will open, but I'm told Norman Manley will. So at least we will be able to get in if we, you know, as Jamaicans or others, as we try to get stuff into a country to support. Tell me about that. Tell me about what kind of support the Jamaican Canadian Association is hoping to provide in the coming weeks. So we've already launched our donate, possibility for people to donate to us. And donations are after the start coming in already.

So we're hoping to provide cash because, obviously, that's easier to get into the country. And for sure, once they're able to make purchases, they'll be able to buy some of the stuff. They've also given us a list because we're in touch with the I Commission and they've provided somewhat of a feedback. And there's also a support Jamaica website that the I commission spoke about. That also gives us and the public information as to what they need.

So we know there are some immediate needs just in terms of supporting, for example, the shelters that have been created that a number of people are in and will be staying in for maybe an extended period of time, so just cuts, foams, sanitary things that they need, hygiene stuff that they may need as they try baby formulas, because I'm sure there's, there will be a lot of babies also there as well. So those are basic needs that they need is the immediate ask right now. I know they will need other things to clear the roads. stuff. So power saws, hard hats, boots. It's a long gloves, yes, a long list. It's a long list for an

extraordinary storm. Well, David, listen, we wish you, and everyone we've spoken to the best of luck reaching your loved ones today and in those efforts to support Jamaica in the coming weeks. Thank you. Thank you very much, Katya. David Betty is the president of the Jamaican Canadian Association. Marsha Korlaven. She's the High Commissioner of Jamaica to Canada and she is in Ottawa. Good morning. Marcia. Good morning, Catherine. How are you? Well, I'm all right. I'm concerned about how you and people in Jamaica are doing this morning. What information have you been able to get from your loved ones about

how they're doing? Well, thankfully, my family members are well. Some, those that are closer to the western and southern part of the island were impacted a bit, but not too devastating. And so I give thanks this morning. As Colin has said, the Melissa hit more in terms of the southern western and going up into the northwestern areas of the island. So thankfully, like the cities in Kingston, St. Andrew, and areas like that were saved, spared the wrath. You do have some persons in those areas, though, who have lost roofs. And there are structural damages. there's road closure, land slippage, and we are still assessing, as you can imagine.

But in the rural areas where the impact was the greatest, again, these are, you have a lot of persons from the rural communities, the farmers, as you have said, that now will have to rebuild. And so there is devastation in those areas, our hospital in St. Elizabeth, for one, got significantly damage. There were videos showing off, you know, the wind just going in and you had persons lying there on the bed. Oh my goodness. When you see the images, it is so devastating. But again, as said by persons who spoke earlier, Jamaica, we have experienced hurricane before. This is the worst that has hit our island. But we are resilient and they're always strong and determined.

And so, again, we have always gotten support from countries like Canada. Canadians and persons across the globe. So again, we're looking forward to that support as we go into the assessment and the rebuilding phase and recovery and rebuilding phase. Marcia, I do certainly want to ask you more about that, but I just want to stay for a moment with this idea of these people in rural communities who were the most significantly impacted. In terms of the effort right now, I know we're still trying to develop a picture of precisely how bad this was, but what sort of efforts can be made to help these people who are in

areas who are in some cases, maybe farmers, you know, may not have a lot of means to help them recover. All right. For immediate needs right now, for those who are displaced, who are in shelters, we need to get them emergency kits. We need to get water purification. We need to get tarpaulins, which will be able to help to cover those who have lost their roofs as they try to start recovering. Emergency supplies for the hospitals as well. And again, we are in contact with Air Canada, WestJet, Flair, to see if once the airport, especially Norman Manley International, that's the airport that the government has, is hoping they're doing the assessment, hopefully today and to tomorrow, that we can open by tomorrow to receive relief

items. So we're hoping to send down non-perishable items. Again, you have babies. You have persons who elderly who will need for instance hiding kits and sanitary kits and so forth so we're mobilizing to see how we can get these items to Jamaica

as quickly as possible Hi Commissioner we just have a moment left with you what is the message you would want Canadians and the Canadian government to hear about how they can most help at this moment all right we are looking forward to that continued partnership that we have had over the years

Again, boots on the ground, we thank persons who have called. I know Mayor Sotcliffe, for one, has reached out to the diaspora community here in Ottawa to say there is support. So persons can reach out to the High Commission. We have information posted on our website as to how to make donate. They can go to the donate supportjama.gov.j.m. website, which will provide even more information of how they can support us immediately and in the medium to long term. Okay. Best of luck to you, High Commissioner. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Catherine. Thank you. Marsha Coralobin is the High Commissioner of Jamaica to Canada. We reached her in Ottawa.

You've been listening to the current podcast. My name is Matt Galloway. Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you soon. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca.ca slash podcasts.