Florida-based relief groups launch efforts to storm-ravaged Jamaica

Hurricane Melissa relief efforts underway

Bay Area groups are descending upon Jamaica to help with relief and recovery in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa. FOX 13’s Kellie Cowan reports.

TAMPA, Fla. - Jamaica is beginning a long recovery after taking the direct hit from Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall as a Category Five storm earlier this week. Communities from Montego Bay to the southern coast sustained catastrophic damage, with widespread flooding, destroyed homes, and washed-out roads.

Critical infrastructure is slowly coming back online as emergency crews work to restore services and clear debris.

Florida groups mobilizing

What we know:

Several Florida-based response organizations are now launching missions to Jamaica to deliver aid and evacuate stranded Americans.

Project Dynamo is sending its first two flights on Thursday, with plans to expand operations as fuel and landing availability allow. The flights will transport nearly 4,000 pounds of supplies, including MREs, water filtration systems, batteries, medical kits, and hygiene items needed for recovery.

The organization says it has also received evacuation requests from fifty groups of Americans, including veterans stuck in Black River, the southwestern coastal town that became ground zero for Hurricane Melissa.

READ: Hurricane Melissa to brush Bermuda as Category 2 storm after blasting Jamaica and Cuba

Project Dynamo leaders say they plan to establish a sky bridge between Key West and Kingston to deliver supplies and fly evacuees home.

Tampa-based Grey Bull Rescue is also working to gather supplies and says it too will coordinate evacuations of Americans who need help.

Venice-based Agape Flights is partnering with several humanitarian organizations to deliver disaster relief equipment and meals to people inJamaica. They hope to land in Kingston tonight.

What they're saying:

"This looks like Hurricane Andrew and Homestead from back in the day," said Project Dynamo team leader James Judge. "The devastation is widespread and a lot of people are displaced and that includes American ex-pats and veterans. Our mission is to bring Americans out and supplies in."

Judge says planning these flights is no small feat. Beyond waiting for airport clearance and establishing fuel availability, the group also reached out to a bipartisan team of of congress members for their help in gaining the proper clearances to fly over Cuban air space.

"The incredible thing about is that during the government shutdown, we got so many US agencies working together to help us," said Judge. "You should see our email threads, we have five, six, seven different agencies there CC'd, giving their opinion or helping us with different information. So it's been great. It's one of those things when you really want to get the help of the American apparatus to save American lives."

READ: Grey Bull Rescue helps 2 families bring adoptive daughters from Haiti to the U.S.

Gray Bull Rescue Founder Bryan Stern says there is an urgent need for basic sanitation and household supplies.

"We got a pretty good list going through the Jamaicans. A lot of sundries, so clothes are not a problem, but things like toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, hand sanitizer, and soap are really needed. A lot of that is hard to get right now and logistics remain complicated in parts of the island," said Stern.

Stern says his group is planning donation drives in the Tampa Bay Area. You can find more information on drop off locations here. 

How to request evacuation help

What you can do:

Anyone who knows Americans needing help leaving Jamaica is asked to contact Project Dynamo or Grey Bull Rescue. 

Each organization has a rescue request form set up on their website.