Sean Paul Helps Jamaica Rebuild After Hurricane Melissa

Sean Paul had seen nothing prefer it. 

The Grammy-award successful dancehall celebrity was touring the Jamaican countryside, not lengthy after Hurricane Melissa — an enormous Class 5 hurricane packing drenching rain and wind gusts exceeding 200 miles per hour — tore via the western a part of the plush island nation. Amid the demolished properties and snapped energy poles Melissa left in her wake, nonetheless, Paul was significantly struck by one indicator of the devastation the lethal storm inflicted on his residence nation.

“I preserve saying to folks, ‘There’s no leaves on the bushes, for miles and miles,’” says Paul, who’s on the bottom to help ongoing restoration efforts on the island. “I’ve by no means seen that earlier than.”

Some bushes “look sun-blasted, like driftwood at a lake,” he says. ”So you may think about seeing the homes simply splattered over the hills.”   

RELATED: Hurricane Melissa: Devastation in Jamaica and How one can Assist

With hit songs like “Gimme the Gentle” and “Temperature,” and followers on each continent, Paul, the musician thought of a worldwide ambassador of Jamaican music, is utilizing his sources to assist his countrymen and girls. Along with Angelie Spencer, a former Miss Jamaica, Paul can also be utilizing his star energy to maintain world consideration on the nation’s lengthy, troublesome highway to restoration. 

“I’m asking all my followers, buddies, and supporters worldwide: In case you can, please give what you may,” says the dancehall artist born Sean Paul Ryan Henriques. 

Paul and Spencer took the time to talk with Phrase In Black about their work.

Hurricane Melissa: A Monster Storm

When Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on October 28, the destruction was swift and brutal. The hurricane — one of many strongest ever recorded within the area — unleashed sustained winds of 185 mph. It additionally slammed the area with a record-setting wind gust of 252 mph. 

The monster storm drowned communities with 1.5 to 2 toes of rainfall, and triggered widespread flooding and landslides throughout the island. Storm surge from the hurricane reached greater than 9 toes in some areas. 

Because the wind and water receded, the size of the devastation grew to become obvious. The storm severely broken or destroyed roughly 116,000 buildings and displaced as many as 25,000 folks. It ruined tens of hundreds of farms and induced energy outages throughout the island.

Now, authorities and nationwide businesses are in a race in opposition to time to revive primary companies, clear particles, and proceed assessing the harm to properties, roads, and the Jamaican economic system. Tourism is the nation’s main income supply.

Because the cleanup continues, public well being officers have raised alarms over the rising illness risk from mosquitoes, rodents, and unclean water. In November, the Jamaican authorities declared an outbreak of leptospirosis — a bacterial an infection usually linked to flood-contaminated water and soil that has killed a minimum of six folks.

Emergency shelters have been arrange for displaced households, and social-support teams are coordinating the supply of meals, hygiene kits, and momentary housing supplies. Along with serving to present meals and clothes, Paul and Spencer are serving to rebuild infrastructure corresponding to homes, roads, and solar-powered electrical energy. 

Bringing Gentle and Meals

Paul and Spencer have been on the bottom for the reason that island’s airports reopened shortly after the storm. Spencer, who was topped Miss Jamaica in 1994, is a humanitarian centered on advocacy, group rebuilding, and supporting weak households throughout Jamaica.

Gentle and electrical energy is “fairly effectively offered out in a whole lot of locations now in Jamaica,” says Spencer. “So, anyone who desires to [can] ship issues from the States — photo voltaic followers, photo voltaic lights–as a result of we all the time have sunshine, so a minimum of these will cost up, they usually have just a little bit of sunshine.”

Along with an area nonprofit, Paul’s basis has issued a plea for his followers worldwide to contribute to reduction efforts. In a heartfelt Instagram publish from his residence in Kingston, he pledged to match each greenback donated to the fund, up $50,000. 

“By the Sean Paul Basis, we’ve partnered with Meals For The Poor Jamaica to deliver reduction on to these affected,” he wrote.

“I’ve to commend the Jamaica public service, as a result of they’re actually going arduous attempting to revive, however there’s lots to do,” Spencer says. “Each line is down. Concrete poles that have been in the midst of the road — they’re gone. All the sunshine poles are down, the wires are gone.”