Residents of the Greater Toronto Area with roots in Jamaica are thinking about and praying for their loved ones back home as a Category 5 hurricane made landfall on the island on Tuesday.
Hurricane Melissa, which is the largest storm ever to hit Jamaica, is currently pummeling the region, bringing catastrophic winds, heavy rain, and a potentially life-threatening storm surge. Already, damage is extensive, with images of large trees ripped out of the ground from their roots and snapped into pieces.
Those in Toronto’s Little Jamaica neighbourhood are understandably concerned for their family members and friends in the Caribbean.
“It’s very, very scary,” Toronto resident Jahiyi Blair told CTV News Toronto while running errands.
Most of his family lives in the mountains in Jamaica, except for his grandmother’s home, which is in the flat countryside. Fortunately, she’s here in Canada right now, he shared.
“There’s not much she can do when it really pours. She just has to hope (the storm) doesn’t come to her side (of the island),” said Blair.
Lancelote Evans, who works at a west Indian restaurant on Eglinton Avenue West, said he spoke with his brother in Jamaica this morning.
“Everybody stay well. I don’t know where they are at right now but I know some of them are at home staying okay so (we’re) hoping for the best,” he said.
Cooking food in a large barrel along the strip, Ricky Salmon said so far his relatives back home are also OK, despite encountering heavy winds and rain.
Sharon Lawes, who works at a local take out spot, shared that her family is in the town and also safe, which she thanked God for.
David Betty, president of the Jamaican Canadian Association (JCA), also has several relatives in Jamaica, some live in Kingston, while others are in St. Catherine and St. Mary parishes.
He said he expects the damages from Hurricane Melissa, which the World Meteorological Association has dubbed the storm of the century for the island nation, will be widespread and significant.
“While I think the buildings will be there, I think all the crops would be gone. All the vegetation would be gone so food will become a challenge for sure. I could see that water could become a problem as well,” Betty told CTV National on Tuesday.
He said he expects the roofs of homes will be sheared off and roads will be washed out leaving many people isolated.
Speaking with CP24 later, Betty said back in 1988 he experienced the powerful wrath of Hurricane Gilbert, a Category 3 storm, in Jamaica. And while that scary experience is one he’ll never forget, Betty said he can only imagine the sheer terror a Category 5 event will bring to those on the island.
“It’s going to be crazy. … We’re concerned how Jamaica will look afterwards,” he said, adding today the JCA along with several organizations met with the country’s High Commissioner and its Consul General to discuss the situation, looking at both immediate needs and ways to help people there going forward.
Consul-General Kurt Davis, of the Consulate-General of Jamaica, said they have been “closely monitoring the developments and coordinating with the Jamaican High Commission in Ottawa as well as community stakeholders to begin relief response from Canada.”
“There is significant devastation especially in the Western areas and we have preliminary information from Jamaica highlighting the critical and immediate needs. These include hygiene products, bedding, water and water purification products, and non-perishable food items,” he said in a written statement provided to CP24.
“We appreciate the love and support from our community and friends of Jamaica here who have indicated they are ready to offer assistance for relief and recovery.”
‘We’re a tight-knit community’
Betty said Canada has the third highest number of Jamaicans outside of the country, next to the United States and the United Kingdom, with roughly 250,000 people of Jamaican descent residing in the Greater Toronto Area.
“We’re a tight-knit community,” he said, adding people in the community as well as organization are coming together to support each another and organize fundraisers.
Among them is Etobicoke-based charity Global Medic, which is ready to help with water purification units, a drone team, and family emergency kits.
“(We are) always working to have pre-positioned aid available as soon as possible so that we’re able to respond as soon as possible to families affected,” Morgan Clark, the organization’s emergency program manager, told CP24.
David Anckle is the chief executive officer of Scarborough’s Tropicana Community Services, which primarily serves people from the African and Caribbean communities.
His 87-year-old father Patrick is currently in Jamaica along with several nieces and nephews and other relatives.
Like many Jamaicans, Anckle’s late mother and father returned to the country to enjoy their golden years.
His dad currently stays in Manchester Parish, which is located in the west-central part of the island.
Anckle said he’s been reaching out to his relatives back home to check on how they’re doing. He said he’s hopeful the part of the island whey they live won’t be hit as hard as other areas.
“I’m definitely concerned,” he told CP24 on Tuesday afternoon.
“The hardest thing is not knowing what to do, how to help during the storm.”
Anckle said he, along with many of his colleagues as well as members of his organization, worries roads will be washed out making it difficult for loved ones back home to access food, clean drinking water, and essential supplies.
Tropicana, he noted, is already discussing how it can help support people in Jamaica as well as their relatives here in Canada in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa.
“It affects us, as much as it does (affect) our families too,” he said.
With files from CTV News Toronto’s Allison Hurst
