Aid efforts struggle to bring relief to parts of hurricane-stricken Jamaica

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Rescuers and aid workers fanned out across Jamaica on Saturday to distribute food and water and reach communities still isolated four days after Hurricane Melissa hit the island.

Essential relief supplies are now rolling into hurricane-stricken St. Elizabeth and Westmoreland, most of which had been cut off by fallen concrete posts and trees strewn across roads.

But in some parts, people were forced to dip buckets into rivers, collecting the muddy water for everyday use, while others have been drinking coconut water and roasting breadfruit.

In Westmoreland, mangled metal sheets, splintered wooden frames of houses and fragments of furniture littered the coastline.

Social Security Minister Pearnel Charles Jr. was among several convoys of emergency responders en route to deliver ready-to-eat meals, water, tarpaulins, blankets, medicine and other essentials.

“The priority now is to get help to those who need it,” said Charles Jr. during a brief stop en route to Black River for the first time with long-awaited relief supplies. Prime Minister Andrew Holness had declared Black River ground zero and said the town will have to be rebuilt.

The Jamaica Defense Force (JDF) set up a satellite disaster relief site at the Luana community center near Black River where care packages are being dispatched to hurricane-stricken residents.

Many have been without vital supplies since Tuesday and quickly converged around a JDF truck as word spread that relief supplies were being distributed in the sweltering afternoon sun.

“Everyone is homeless right now,” Rosemarie Gayle said. “Thank you, thank you. I can’t say thank you enough,” she said, as she accepted a package of rice, beans, sardines, powdered milk, cooking oil and other essentials.

Melissa has left devastation in its wake, snapping power lines and toppling buildings, disrupting food and water distribution and destroying crop fields.

Some people have been walking for miles in search of basic goods and to check on loved ones, as more than 60% of the island remained without power. Helicopters have been dropping food in cut-off communities.

“People are in shock and they’re waiting on relief,” said World Vision’s national director of domestic humanitarian and emergency affairs Mike Bassett, who traveled to the town of Santa Cruz in St. Elizabeth on Friday.

“The biggest needs are clean water, tarps for roof damage, canned proteins, hygiene and cleaning supplies,” he said.

On Saturday, the United Nations' World Food Program received 2,000 boxes of emergency food assistance shipped from Barbados, to be distributed in shelters and in the most-affected communities in the St. Elizabeth area.

“They will help meet the needs of 6,000 people for one week,” said communications officer for WFP Alexis Masciarelli.

One of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes to make landfall, Melissa has been blamed for at least 28 deaths in Jamaica, and 31 in nearby Haiti.

Health Minister Christopher Tufton recognized that the death toll in Jamaica was probably higher as many places are still hard to access, but said that it would be unwise to speculate.

Tufton also warned about the risk of increased mosquitoes, waterborne diseases and food poisoning. “Please discard spoiled food,” he said.

Melissa made landfall in southwest Jamaica on Tuesday as a Category 5 hurricane with top winds of 185 mph (295 kph).

A U.S. regional disaster assistance response team was on the ground after being activated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this week, the U.S. Embassy in Jamaica said.

“The United States stands with Jamaica as they respond to the impacts of the hurricane and remains prepared to swiftly deliver emergency relief items,” it said.

Jamaica’s Water and Environment Minister Matthew Samuda took to the social media platform X in a desperate bid to find tarpaulin after Melissa tore off scores of roofs on homes in western Jamaica. X users chimed in to help, indicating where they had seen supplies.

Falmouth, a popular fishing spot on Jamaica's north coast, had suffered significant damage including flooding and flattened buildings, Holness said on Saturday.

“Our immediate priority is to restore electricity and telecommunications and to ensure that essential services, particularly at the Falmouth Hospital, are stabilized,” he said on X, adding that Jamaica would rebuild “stronger and wiser."

Following the devastation, the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) said that it would make a record payout to Jamaica of $70.8 million.

The facility enables countries to pool their individual risks to provide affordable coverage against natural disasters. The payout will be made within 14 days, the group said on Friday.

Finance Minister Fayval Williams said Thursday that the CCRIF insurance policy was just one part of the government’s financial plan to respond to natural disasters. She pointed to a contingencies fund, a national natural disaster reserve and a catastrophe bond.

Government officials have said damage assessment is still ongoing.

A worker unloads humanitarian aid at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Humanitarian aid sits on the tarmac at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Passengers check in at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Passengers check in at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

People repair the roof of a resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica, Friday, Oct. 31, 2025, in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Locals gather next to a resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica, Friday, Oct. 31, 2025, in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Mud covers a soccer goal in Montego Bay, Jamaica, Friday, Oct. 31, 2025, in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

CORRECTS CITY - An aerial view of Falmouth, Jamaica, Friday, Oct. 31, 2025, in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

CORRECTS CITY - An aerial view of Falmouth, Jamaica, Friday, Oct. 31, 2025, in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday loosened federal rules that require grocery stores and air-conditioning companies to reduce greenhouse gases used in cooling equipment, a step President Donald Trump said would help lower grocery costs.

Trump, at a White House ceremony, said the action by the Environmental Protection Agency would “substantially lower costs for consumers” by delaying costly restrictions that limit the type of refrigerants U.S. businesses and families can use.

The move to relax the Biden-era rules on harmful pollutants known as HFCs emitted by refrigerators and other appliances was the latest attempt by the Trump administration to try to address rising voter concerns over the cost of living ahead of pivotal elections in November.

It is not clear how much or how quickly the loosening of the refrigerant rule might impact grocery prices. Industry groups said the move could even raise prices because manufacturers have already redesigned products, retooled factories and trained workers to build and service next-generation refrigerant equipment.

Inflation in the United States increased to 3.8% annually in April, amid price spikes caused by the Iran war and President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs. Inflation is now outpacing wage gains as the war has kept oil and gasoline prices high.

The Biden-era regulation was “unnecessary and costly and actually makes the machinery worse,” Trump said at a ceremony joined by top executives from Kroger, Piggly Wiggly and other grocery chains. The EPA action will protect hundreds of thousands of jobs and save Americans more than $2 billion a year, he said.

The Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute, which represents more than 330 HVAC manufacturers and commercial refrigeration companies, said the change in approach would “inject uncertainty across the market” and could even raise prices.

“This rule works against basic supply and demand,” said Stephen Yurek, the group’s president and CEO. “By extending the compliance deadline” for phasing out hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, the administration “is maintaining and even increasing demand in the market for existing refrigerants while supply continues to fall.”

Manufacturers have already retooled product lines and certified models based on the existing timeline, Yurek said. Nearly 90% of residential and light commercial air conditioning systems use substitute refrigerants, rather than HFCs, he said.

The administration's action on refrigerants represents a reversal after Trump signed a law in his first term that aimed to reduce harmful, planet-warming pollutants emitted by refrigerators and air conditioners. That bipartisan measure brought environmentalists and major business groups into rare alignment on the contentious issue of climate change and won praise across the political spectrum.

The 2020 law reflected a broad bipartisan consensus on the need to quickly phase out domestic use of HFCs, greenhouse gases that are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide and are considered a major driver of global warming.

The EPA action highlights the second Trump administration’s drive to roll back regulations perceived as climate friendly. The plan is among a series of sweeping environmental changes that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has said will put a “dagger through the heart of climate change religion.”

Environmentalists criticized the administration’s actions, saying the new rule would exacerbate climate pollution while disrupting a yearslong industry transition to new coolants as an alternative to HFCs.

The 2020 law signed by Trump, known as the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act, phased out HFCs as part of an international agreement on ozone pollution. The law accelerated an industry shift to alternative refrigerants that use less harmful chemicals and are widely available.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Chemistry Council, the top lobbying group for the chemical industry, were among numerous business groups that supported the law and an international deal on pollutants, known as the Kigali Amendment, as victories for jobs and the environment. U.S. companies such as Chemours and Honeywell developed and produce the alternative refrigerants sold in the United States and around the world.

The 2023 rule now being relaxed imposed steep restrictions on HFCs starting in 2026. Zeldin said the rule from the Democratic Biden administration did not give companies enough time to comply and that the rapid switch to other refrigerants caused shortages and price increases last year. Some in the industry dispute this.

The Food Industry Association, which represents grocery stores and suppliers, applauded the Trump EPA proposal last year, saying the earlier rule “imposed significant and unrealistic compliance timelines.”

Kevin McDaniel, Piggly Wiggly franchise owner, speaks during an event with President Donald Trump about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Kroger CEO Greg Foran speaks speaks during an event with President Donald Trump about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Lee Zeldin, Environmental Protection Agency administrator, listens as President Donald Trump speaks during an event about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Donald Trump speaks during an event about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

FILE - A shop owner reaches into a drink display refrigerator at his convenience store in Kent, Wash., Oct. 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)