Jamaican families across South Florida are praying and hoping for loved ones as Hurricane Melissa batters the island.
From Miramar to Miami Gardens and Coconut Creek, community members organized donation drives and packed emergency kits, preparing to send help the moment it’s safe.
“I can’t even sleep. I didn’t even sleep last night,” said Dor Ivey, who has lived in Miami Gardens for 11 years and whose family remains in Jamaica. “I don’t sleep because I’m worried about the people in Jamaica.”
Marvin Edwards, whom CBS Miami spoke to on Monday, sent a text early Tuesday, saying he had taken shelter in his bathroom after patio doors blew off his home in Montego Bay. He recorded cellphone video, just hours before Melissa made landfall.
Those scenes are echoed by relatives and friends in South Florida who are watching and waiting.
Dor Ivey told CBS News Miami that her daughter and grandchildren were “doing good right now. It’s windy and rainy, but they are well covered.”
Volunteers packing emergency items
Volunteers stepped up across Broward County on Tuesday. About 60 people showed up at the Food for the Poor warehouse to pack emergency kits destined for Jamaica.
“The sense of foreboding and the pit in the stomach is truly palpable today,” said Ed Raine, president and CEO of Food for the Poor. “We’re working hard, but underneath it all, we’re in distress.”
Raine, whose wife is Jamaican and whose organization’s staff includes many Jamaicans, said the relief effort is deeply personal for those involved.
At Cleveland’s Ice Cream, a Jamaican-owned ice cream parlor, all of Monday’s proceeds will be sent for hurricane relief. Owner Cleveland Smith estimated the fundraiser had raised roughly $2,000 so far.
Broward County District 7 Commissioner Alexandra Davis has launched two donation drives at the Miramar and Pembroke Pines libraries.
“We are concerned,” Davis said. “Anyone who lived through Gilbert, which was a Category 3 or 4, knows the devastation it can cause.”
Local officials and nonprofits are asking for specific items that can be packed and shipped or distributed once it’s safe to do so. Cash donations are especially valuable because they allow organizations on the ground to purchase the exact supplies needed when relief operations begin.
Items needed include:
- Tarps
- Generators
- Trash Bags
- Canned Foods
- Non-Perishable Foods
- Flashlights
- Batteries
- Sleeping Bags
- Work Gloves
- Solar-Powered Lights
- Tents
- Industrial Sponges
- Water
- First Aid Kits
- Hygiene Kits
- Wash Cloths
- Deodorant
Police and fire stations in Miramar and Lauderhill are also accepting donations.
Marcia Barrett, a Coconut Creek resident who is Jamaican, put it simply: “I’m nervous and I’m praying… it seems like I have to do this because they’re going to need it.”
For many in South Florida, the response is immediate, a mix of concern, mobilization and the familiar urge to help family and neighbors across the water.
