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The government is organising emergency charter flights to evacuate British tourists stranded in Jamaica, as the death toll from Hurricane Melissa continues to rise.
As many as 8,000 Britons are thought to be in Jamaica, and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has urged them to register their presence through the government website to receive updates on the hurricane.
While all airports on the Caribbean island were shut in preparation for the storm, the Jamaican government said it hopes to reopen them on Thursday to help in the distribution of emergency relief supplies.
A car drives through the a destroyed neighborood following the passage of Hurricane Melissa, in Black River, Jamaica (AFP/Getty)
The FCDO said it is working with travel companies and commercial airlines to restore flights, as well as organising a limited number of charter flights for British nationals who are unable to fly home commercially in order to bolster capacity.
All British nationals who have registered their presence in Jamaica will automatically be contacted and provided with a link to the booking portal for flights once airports are open, the department said.
Two specialist rapid deployment teams are travelling to Jamaica to facilitate the charter flights and provide consular assistance to British nationals.
It comes after the UK announced plans to support the country with £2.5m in emergency humanitarian funding, as Sir Keir Starmer described scenes from the country as “truly shocking”.
The funding will go towards delivering emergency supplies such as shelter kits, water filters and blankets.
The FCDO has also set up a crisis centre to help Britons on the Caribbean island. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy ship HMS Trent is in the region on stand-by.
The prime minister told MPs on Wednesday that naval vessel HMS Trent and rapid deployment teams had been “pre-positioned in the region” to provide support.
In a statement on Friday, foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said: “The strong links between the UK and Jamaica mean many British nationals were there during the devastation of the hurricane, and we need to ensure they can get safely home, as we know how worrying and difficult the last few days will have been.
“The UK government is chartering flights to bolster commercial capacity and ensure people who wish to return to the UK can do so as soon as possible.”
The west of Jamaica is thought to have been particularly badly hit, including key tourist areas such as Montego Bay, while around three-quarters of the island is without power.
On Tuesday, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) in Miami said Melissa was “one of the most powerful hurricane landfalls on record in the Atlantic basin” as it hit southwestern Jamaica near New Hope with sustained winds of 185mph.
The storm has since made landfall in eastern Cuba and dropped from a category 5 to a category 3 hurricane.
The National Hurricane Centre warned residents in Cuba to remain sheltered, and urged the Bahamas to make preparations for the storm, which is predicted to reach the country later on Wednesday.
