U.S.-Based Aid Groups Rush to Get Supplies into Storm-Battered Jamaica After Hurricane Melissa

At the Global Empowerment Mission, a nonprofit aid organization headquartered near Miami, Shanna Ford, who is from Jamaica, is one of dozens of volunteers packing up basic supplies for survival, including food, water and tarps for protection from the elements.

“We have the second-largest Jamaican diaspora community in south Florida,” Capponi said. “If you’re Jamaican, you cannot just sit home and watch this on the news. So they’re all here coming every hour.”