Copyright nytimes
Hurricane Melissa has devastated Jamaica to levels never seen before, the United Nations resident coordinator for the island nation said on Wednesday. More than one million people, a third of the population, were directly affected by the storm, he said. The resident coordinator, Dennis Zulu, who briefed reporters virtually from his base in Kingston, the Jamaican capital, said, “There has been tremendous unprecedented devastation of infrastructure, of property, road network connectivity, energy has been lost.” What was unique in Jamaica, he added, is that the effects of the hurricane were “spread across the country.” He said, “The grid is down in a substantial part of the country.” Many roads were destroyed or cut off, hindering the United Nation’s ability to conduct initial assessments of the damage, so it was relying on drones and satellite imagery. Mr. Zulu said the United Nations was working in partnership with officials on the island and other partners to plan a response. He added that the U.N.’s most immediate action would focus on aid like water and food. The U.N. secretary general, António Guterres, said in a statement on Wednesday that the agency had teams and staff members positioned in nearby countries ready to be deployed, and that it had allocated $4 million each for Haiti and Cuba from its emergency funds. The statement did not address whether any funds had been set aside for Jamaica.
