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The UK Government is chartering flights to help Britons leave Jamaica after the destruction caused by Hurricane Melissa. Officials are preparing planes to transport British nationals away as the death toll from the harrowing natural disaster continues to rise. Five fatalities have been confirmed in Jamaica and at least 20 people have lost their lives in Haiti due to flooding caused by the category five storm. It brought winds of 185mph - making it one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded. The UK is providing Jamaica with £2.5 million in emergency humanitarian aid. Keir Starmer described footage of the destruction as "truly shocking". The PM told MPs on Wednesday that HMS Trent and "specialist rapid deployment teams" had been "pre-positioned in the region" to offer assistance. People are stranded without electricity and with damaged infrastructure amid the floods, while Hurricane Melissa, now downgraded to a category one storm, is predicted to bring further strong winds and heavy rainfall. In Jamaica more than 25,000 people were packed into shelters on Wednesday after the storm ripped roofs off their homes. Dana Morris Dixon, Jamaica's education minister, said 77% of the island was without power. Prime Minister Andrew Holness said in a statement: "Recovery will take time, but the government is fully mobilized. Relief supplies are being prepared, and we are doing everything possible to restore normalcy quickly." Describing destruction in the southwest coastal community of Black River, he said: "Black River is what you would describe as ground zero. The people are still coming to grips with the destruction." The outages complicated assessing the damage because of "a total communication blackout" in areas, Richard Thompson, acting director general of Jamaica's Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, told the Nationwide News Network radio station.
