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#EyeOnMelissa: JDF DART ready to assist with recovery efforts, says Holness
(Jamaica Observer) The Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) is well aligned to provide assistance in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa which is projected to make landfall in Jamaica between Monday night and Tuesday morning.
The assurance was given by Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness on Monday, during a special media briefing at the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management.
The JDF’s DART team is often called on to provide aid during disasters, including relief, recovery and reconstruction efforts, often working with other government agencies. It played a pivotal role in Jamaica’s recovery following Hurricane Beryl which impacted the country in July 2024.
“The JDF is on full alert, they have put in place their necessary protocols, they have a system where they have specialised teams for disaster response, they call it the DART,” Holness said.
He added that, “Those teams are already stood up, directives have been given that the entire JDF is now the DART so their engineering core, their various regiments and so forth — everybody will be used for the national good if we have a strike on our country through this category five hurricane that could cause significant dislocation.
“We are as prepared as we can be, of course there’s still room for improvement,” he said
The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) says “catastrophic” and “life-threatening” hurricane-force wind conditions are expected to begin impacting Jamaica Monday night and continue into early Tuesday.
Noting that tropical storm conditions are now occurring in the country, the centre said that within the eyewall, total structural failure is likely, especially in higher elevation areas where wind speeds atop, and on the windward sides of hills and mountains could be up to 30 per cent stronger.
In its latest bulletin, the NHC noted that the centre of Hurricane Melissa was located near latitude 16.4 north and longitude 78.2 west as it continued moving toward the west at three miles per hour.
It said a slow turn toward the northwest and north was expected later Monday, followed by a turn toward the northeast and a faster forward speed on Tuesday. A northeastward motion is expected on Wednesday and Thursday.
On the forecast track, the core of Melissa is expected to move over Jamaica Monday night and early Tuesday, across southeastern Cuba Tuesday night, and across the southeastern Bahamas on Wednesday.
Maximum sustained winds are near 165 mph (270 km/h) with higher gusts. Hurricane Melissa is a category five hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Some fluctuations in intensity are likely before Melissa makes landfall on Jamaica on Tuesday, the NHC said.
The Prime Minister meanwhile warned residents to stay away from Sandy Gully in St Andrew as he toured his constituency just hours before Jamaica is anticipated to feel the full impact of Hurricane Melissa.
Holness, the Member of Parliament for St Andrew West Central, was speaking to residents in the Waterhouse area, one of several communities located near the Sandy Gully. He was accompanied by Abka Fitz-Henley, chairman of the Jamaica Labour Party’s communication taskforce.
Holness urged residents to take the threat seriously and avoid venturing near the gully during the storm.
“Stay away from the gully,” he warned, pointing to a section of the community to demonstrate the potential danger. “As you can see what could happen.”
Sandy Gully, one of the island’s largest drainage systems, runs approximately six miles from the foothills of eastern St Andrew, passing through several densely populated communities including Seaview Gardens, Waterhouse, and Riverton City before emptying into Kingston Harbour via Hunt’s Bay.
The prime minister’s visit comes as emergency services continue preparations across the island, with shelters being readied and residents urged to secure their homes.
Authorities have warned that heavy rains, flash flooding and strong winds are expected as Hurricane Melissa nears landfall.
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