KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica has been receiving pledges of support for hurricane preparation and recovery from its regional and international partners, says Prime Minister, Andrew Holness.

“We have received calls of support from our partners – the United Nations, United States, the British, the French, the European Union, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA).

“All the Caricom countries have reached out to pledge support in one way, shape or form and I want to thank all of them for being so willing to support our recovery efforts and our preparation efforts as well,” he said.

The prime minister was addressing a press briefing on preparations for Hurricane Melissa at the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) at the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) in Kingston on Monday.

Hurricane Melissa is expected to make landfall early Tuesday  as a powerful category five system bringing strong winds, heavy rainfall over the entire country, causing flooding and landslide.

Holness reminded Jamaicans that the system is unusual. “Normally with a hurricane, you focus on two things – wind and rain because it happens very quickly. Now we have to focus on three things, wind, rain and the length of time it will probably linger over the country,” he pointed out.

“You’re not just dealing with saturation; you’re dealing with a high level of destruction, a higher probability of landslides, a higher probability of flooding even in areas where flooding would not have taken place, so we have to bear that in mind and be prepared,” he said.

The prime minister said Jamaicans can rest assured that the Government is prepared to respond to the impact of the hurricane.

“We are already now thinking about the second phase, which is the relief phase, and then we will move into the recovery and then we will move into rebuilding, depending on the extent of the damage,” he said.

– JIS