KINGSTON, July 5 (JIS): The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) is encouraging members of the public to observe critical post-sever weather safeguards. After a severe weather system, citizens should continue to monitor updates from reliable, government-approved official communications channels. Acting Director General, ODPEM, Richard Thompson, said the environment may be unsafe following a severe weather event, underscoring...

The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) and its partner agencies have commenced initial damage assessments of sections of the island damaged by Hurricane Beryl. Acting Director General, Richard Thompson, told JIS News that information received by the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) indicates that some homes and public infrastructure have sustained damage resulting from flooding and storm...

More than 50 shelter managers and key stakeholders across St. Elizabeth gathered to discuss strategies to safeguard communities against disaster, during a Shelter Management Conference held in Santa Cruz on Wednesday (June 26). Held under the theme ‘Be Disaster Aware: Plan, Mitigate and Prepare’, the event focused on readiness, community engagement and the vital role that shelter managers play in...

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says the Government is looking to quickly complete assessments of damage sustained across Jamaica from Hurricane Beryl’s passage in order to effect the requisite responses. “We are now in the disaster response phase, and this is the first phase, which is the assessment. We want to wrap up the assessments quickly and then...

The Government has pledged swift and substantial support for farmers in the hardest-hit parishes of Jamaica, in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl. Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, announced that resources are being mobilised to aid recovery efforts, particularly in St. Elizabeth, Manchester and Clarendon. The Government’s response comes after Minister Green toured the affected areas with...

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, has thanked public health personnel in St. Elizabeth for their selfless devotion in caring for the sick during the passage of Hurricane Beryl on Wednesday (July 3). He expressed these sentiments during a visit to the Black River Hospital on Thursday (July 4), where he met with the institution’s staff as well as...

This week, Hurricane Beryl made landfall in the Caribbean region, bringing winds of 140 to 160 mph, and becoming the first hurricane on record to reach category 5 so early in the Atlantic. In Jamaica, and the Eastern Caribbean, entire communities have been flooded, houses destroyed, livelihoods wiped out, and the full scale of this event is not yet known....