Copyright birminghammail
A British holidaymaker who forked out £3,500 for emergency flights home from Jamaica due to Hurricane Melissa has slammed the UK Government's handling of the crisis, saying he feels "completely let down". David Rowe had been enjoying a 10-day break in Jamaica with his wife and two children before opting to cut their trip short due to the approaching storm. The family managed to secure seats on one of the final departures from Montego Bay airport on Sunday before all flights were stopped, forcing him to arrange a bank loan to meet the expenses. Melissa battered south-western Jamaica with ferocious winds reaching 185mph on Tuesday, marking it as "one of the most powerful hurricane landfalls on record in the Atlantic basin" according to the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami. Up to 8,000 British nationals are currently in the Caribbean nation, with residents told to remain indoors as the world's most severe storm of the year wreaks havoc. READ MORE: The 47 year old told the PA news agency: "We took one of the last planes to take off, and I was even at the airport with my family and going 'is this plane even going to be allowed to take off because the wind speed is picking up?' and then we would have been stranded." On Tuesday, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) called on British citizens in Jamaica to register their whereabouts via the Government website to receive FCDO updates regarding the hurricane. Mr Rowe revealed that his insurance company denied his claim as the FCDO had not issued a warning declaring it unsafe to travel. The IT programme manager said: "I'm not prepared to have my children go through what I'm hearing now and seeing on the news - people stuck inside their bathrooms for 24, 48 hours while the storm passes over. That's just horrific, and I feel completely let down by the UK Government." Regarding the FCDO's handling of the storm, Mr Rowe said: "It's all too late, their reaction and their response to the storm has been too late – after the fact. "The advice should have been last week, like on the Saturday – don't travel because a lot of the travel companies use the FCDO guidance on travel for all their planning and the decisions they make as an organisation." Mr Rowe claimed that until Tuesday, FCDO support for UK citizens in Jamaica concerning the hurricane had been "non-existent". "I feel really be ashamed to be associated with the UK Government, because we should be doing better," he added. "In a war, you would get a clear 'no, don't travel there'," he said. "This is not like yesterday it was brilliant sunshine, today it's a Category 5 – this has been building up and has been in the news since last Thursday, last Wednesday." He continued: "There should have been something done much sooner than this and a lot of the UK nationals and people on holiday there, they are stranded. This could have been prevented with better action from the UK Government." Asked how he felt when deciding to leave the country early, Mr Rowe said he and his wife Abby did not sleep for the last two days of their holiday as they were worrying about the safety of their children. "I'm very anxious, and even now we're very sad, but we're sad for the people have been left there who couldn't get out of the country," he said. "Sad for the lovely Jamaicans that we made friends with at our hotel, that they're now in a position that they're putting their lives on the risk looking after us in our hotel, and they're staying in there, in hotels themselves, not allowed to go home, can't be with their own families, looking after British citizens and holidaymakers. "My wife was in tears about making this decision and had sleepless nights the last couple of nights before we left." A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We understand how worrying developments in Jamaica are for British nationals and their families. "Our travel advice includes information about hurricane season, which runs from June to November. Last Thursday, we updated our travel advice for Jamaica to include a warning about Tropical Storm Melissa and that it was expected to intensify over the coming days. "The safety and security of British nationals is our top priority, and that is why we are urging any British nationals in Jamaica to follow the guidance of the local authorities and register their presence with us to receive updates."
