Copyright independent
A former NHS nurse who spent her working life in the UK is among thousands left desperately looking for food and shelter after Hurricane Melissa tore through Jamaica. Former health worker Mira Morrison, 83, has now “officially run out of food” in the island parish of St. Elizabeth with the storm hampering access for aid and rescue teams, according to her granddaughter Bianca Montiqu. Hurricane Melissa made landfall on Jamaica on 28 October, killing 32 people. Much of the population remains without electricity, and around 30,000 have been displaced from their homes. Ms Montiqu, 35, from Nottingham, told The Independent: “The surrounding communities have been annihilated, and there's no power, minimal communication and limited food. “What once was a peaceful corner of St. Elizabeth full of laughter, music and warmth, is now replaced with silence and despair.” Ms Montiqu, who has started a GoFundMe page to send a shipping container full of essentials to Jamaica, said many of the residents in St. Elizabeth spent decades working in the UK and abroad, building lives through “hard work and hope”, before returning home “to live out their retirement in peace”. “They've built their homes with every every penny of their life savings,” Ms Montiqu said. “My nan is one of them. She’s 83 years old, a retired nurse who cares for others every single day of her life.” She said Ms Morrison was aged 19 when she arrived in the UK to train as a nurse in Derbyshire, before later working at hospitals and care homes in Nottingham and Fairfield in Hertfordshire. Aged 63, she retired due to ill health, and moved to Jamaica for her retirement. “Now she sits in the dark,” she said. “Her roof is torn apart by the storm and her cupboards are empty. She can’t travel to the US to work to repair her home, and she has now officially run out of food. Ms Morrison, like her neighbours, now faces an “unthinkable choice”, Ms Montiqu said. She can either stay where she is or “risk her life again by venturing out into the chaos in search of food, or a bank that might still be open so that we can send her money to help.” She added: “Her roof was destroyed, but her actual four walls were okay. Some people out there have not even got that.” Ms Montiqu hopes that by sending a shipping container filled with food and everyday essentials, she can help residents of St. Elizabeth rebuild their lives. She said: “Every contribution, big or small, is a little step in giving people like my nan and her community a sense of normality again.” Food is a priority for Jamaica. But Bianca also aims to send lumbar, wood, steel beams and bricks to help build better homes for the longer term. Hurricane Melissa was the worst such storm to hit Jamaica in 50 years. But scientists warn that climate change is making hurricanes stronger and possibly causing them to move more slowly, resulting in more damage and loss of life. Ms Montiqu raised more than £700 in just three days, and expects £3,000 would cover the cost of filling, storing and sending a shipping container full of aid for those most in need. She said she also plans to approach home improvement companies to see if they might support her effort in donating building materials. “I’m going to need a lot of help to make this dream into reality,” she said. Appealing to the generosity of the public, she said: “I know times are hard. We’re all living in the cost-of-living crisis. But Christmas is coming up and some of these kids won’t even have a dinner to eat, let alone toys to open. “Even if people can’t donate money, a blanket will help somebody. A pack of nappies will help a child. A bottle will help a kid feed. Anything is better than nothing.”
