Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States, retired Major General Anthony Anderson, is coordinating disaster preparedness efforts among members of the diaspora as Hurricane Melissa threatens to impact the island for several days.
Ambassador Anderson is expected to host a Zoom meeting this week to outline the organized relief response. According to Consul General Oliver Mair in Miami, Jamaica’s honorary consuls across the United States will join the discussion to align preparations that would support the island if the storm makes landfall.
Mair said multiple talks have already taken place with diaspora groups to establish a unified approach to mobilizing aid. Representatives from Jamaica’s Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, along with other government agencies, are also expected to brief participants on conditions at home.
“The embassy has been in constant contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” a spokesman for the Jamaican Embassy in Washington, DC, told The Gleaner. “We need to know what the priority areas for the country are should the hurricane strike.”
In New York, the Jamaican Consulate has begun outreach efforts among community organizations to prepare for potential relief operations. Officials say partnerships with Jamaican-owned shipping companies remain in place to transport supplies, and drop-off locations are being identified across the five boroughs, pending guidance from the government in Kingston.
In Florida, Mair has secured warehouse space to store donated goods, and early contributions have already begun arriving, according to social media updates from his office.
Hurricane Melissa, now a powerful Category 4 system, is forecast to strengthen further and could make landfall in Jamaica between Monday night and Tuesday morning as a Category 5 storm.
