Dozens of U.S. military personnel arrived in Jamaica today to provide humanitarian and disaster assistance after Hurricane Melissa tore through the country.
The advance wave of troops arrived in the country’s capital of Kingston today, with three CH-47 Chinooks from 1st Battalion, 228 Aviation Regiment bringing 40 service members from different branches as well as an initial cache of supplies. The advance team is there “to provide immediate, lifesaving and humanitarian support,” the U.S. military said.
The forces are part of Joint Task Force-Bravo, U.S. Southern Command’s forward-deployed force based out of Soto Cano Air Base in Honduras. The force is not part of the large build-up of ships and aircraft in the Caribbean as part of the anti-narcotics U.S. military campaign in the region. The State Department is overseeing the humanitarian mission and has sent a Disaster Assistance Response Team to the Caribbean to assist and assess the extent of the damage.
Top Stories This Week
The storm hit Jamaica as a Category 5 hurricane on Tuesday, pummeling the island with winds at more than 180 miles per hour. At least 50 people have died in the Caribbean as a result of the storm, with 19 confirmed dead in Jamaica, according to health officials, though that number is expected to rise, USA Today reported. Kingston, where the U.S. military is setting up its base of operations, was largely undamaged, but the western part of the island was devastated, Jamaican officials said. More than two-thirds of the country is without power.
Both Jamaica and Haiti formally requested disaster aid from the U.S., the New York Times reported. The military began staging assets to deploy on Wednesday. Joint Task Force-Bravo, in addition to security operations, has deployed troops for disaster relief in the wake of hurricanes to countries such as Colombia, Guatemala and Panama.
More American personnel will arrive in Jamaica in the coming days, although Joint Task Force-Bravo did not say how many in total would be deploying. Three UH-60 and two HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters will bring additional troops and more supplies. Task & Purpose reached out to SOUTHCOM and Joint Task Force-Bravo about the total size of the relief expedition.
The storm also battered Cuba and Haiti, causing major flooding and leaving large parts of the islands without power. At least 30 people died in Haiti, and several more are missing. One person died in the Dominican Republic (which neighbors Haiti) as a result of the storm, Al-Jazeera reported. No deaths were reported in Cuba, which Melissa hit as a Category 3 hurricane, but the storm caused several landslides, blocking roads.
Task & Purpose Video