France plans to deliver “in the coming days” by sea a cargo of emergency humanitarian aid to Jamaica, hit on Tuesday by Hurricane Melissa, with winds of nearly 300 km/h.
“Essential kits as well as water treatment units will be delivered in the coming days by the Armed Forces in the Antilles, as part of the European Union’s civil protection mechanism,” the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Thursday, expressing “its solidarity with the Caribbean countries affected by Hurricane Melissa.”
The United Kingdom, for its part, announced that it would provide emergency financial aid of 2.8 million euros to Jamaica. These funds will help finance emergency supplies, such as shelter kits, water filters and blankets, the release said.
Record intensity since 1935
The Foreign Office set up a crisis center on Tuesday to provide consular assistance to British nationals in the region.
“There has been immense, unprecedented destruction of infrastructure, property, roads, communications and energy networks,” Dennis Zulu, UN coordinator in several Caribbean countries, including Jamaica, said by video from Kingston.
By hitting Jamaica On Tuesday, Melissa tied the 1935 record for the most intense hurricane at landfall, according to an AFP analysis of meteorological data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It killed at least 20 people in Haiti and devastated entire regions of Jamaica.