Shelter managers in Westmoreland are asking for urgent assistance as they struggle to care for disabled residents displaced by Hurricane Melissa. At Petersfield High School, where more than 140 people are staying, several occupants require specialised support, including individuals who are visually impaired, living with Parkinson’s disease, autistic, or dependent on feeding tubes. Managers say they lack trained caregivers and resources to meet these needs and are calling for help from social services and infirmaries to ensure proper care during the ongoing recovery effort.

Melissa leaves disabled struggling for survival

Jamaica Gleaner/16 Nov 2025/Kimone Francis Staff Reporter kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com

Chevron Campbell sits quietly in the shelter, his hands trembling involuntarily from Parkinson’s disease.

BEHIND THE visible destruction left by Hurricane Melissa lies another unfolding tragedy for Jamaica’s disabled, as residents in the hardest-hit areas struggle with limited medical care and basic accessibility, turning their search for refuge into yet another fight for survival.

Inside a makeshift shelter at Petersfield High School in Westmoreland, the air was heavy with unspoken fears and quiet terror for five of its most vulnerable occupants, displaced by the Category 5 hurricane that tore through Jamaica’s western parishes on October 28.

Two of the residents are visually impaired, one lives with Parkinson’s disease, one child is autistic, another uses a feeding tube, and one man has an intellectual disability.

At the entrance of a darkened classroom, Chevron Campbell sat alone, his hands shaking involuntarily from Parkinson’s disease. He said his condition developed after a stroke two years ago. Up to that point, he worked as a courtesy officer for a security company in the resort town of Montego Bay, St James.

His home in Galloway district was destroyed by the storm, forcing him to take refuge at a neighbour’s house until the hurricane passed. He left behind crucial medication and mobility equipment. Campbell later relocated to the Petersfield shelter, where more than 140 other residents are housed.

He relies on shelter managers for care.

“I have relatives overseas, but I don’t think they know that I’m at the shelter. I have a daughter living in Sav [Savanna-la-Mar]. She doesn’t know I’m here. Nobody knows,”

Campbell told The Sunday Gleaner.

He desperately wants to leave the shelter, recalling the solitude he once enjoyed.

“I would love back a house. I don’t like this place. Every day is pure quarrel and fuss and fighting. I don’t used to this,” the 51-year-old said.

Quietly dressing in another classroom was 87-year-old Elsie Owens, whose house in Shrewsbury was destroyed when a mango tree fell on it during the storm. She has been visually impaired for three years.

“I hardly can explain, ma’am. Things terrible, terrible because the storm tear down my house and I have to be in other people shelter. My neighbour had to shelter me and now I am here. I don’t know how I’m going to get through,” said Owens, seated on a bed in the corner.

The assistant shelter manager shone a phone flashlight onto her, helping her see silhouettes as she felt for her clothes.

“I don’t have no husband. I don’t have no son, no daughters. I have cousins, but they are all in the same position as me right now. So, I’m living by the grace of God. The eyes gone bad. I have glaucoma and cataract in it,” she said. She had four children, all of whom have died.

I DON’T KNOW WHERE I’M GOING

“I don’t know where I’m going. I’m fretting now and considering. I might have to go look rent house until God show me a way out. I have a feeling He will, but it’s not going to be quick because the Government have nuff to deal with, and the God of Heaven have nuff too,” Owens said, adding that she collects a pension.

For Shauna Blair and her family, the reality is equally grim. Their house on Meylers Avenue was shredded by the storm. Blair, her husband, and their fussy one-yearold son sat near the entrance of the shelter, while their two daughters are staying with a relative who was less affected by the hurricane.

Blair, who lost her sight as a result of glaucoma and cataract after her pregnancy, described the hurricane as life-threatening. She recalled standing helplessly with her infant as the roof and parts of their home were ripped off while her husband, Pearnel Townsend rescued the other two children and important documents.

When he returned for her, the rest of the structure collapsed. The minivan in which they sought refuge was no match for the 185 miles-perhour winds, trapping them between a fallen willow tree and a light pole.

After the storm passed, residents helped them reach the shelter. Blair said life at the shelter has been a blessing. Aid is pouring in, giving her months’ worth of supplies for her baby.

“I can’t complain. I get things upon things, feeding upon feeding that maybe can last me up to next year. Goods upon goods, clothes upon clothes,” she said.

For her husband, life has become more difficult. He is unable to work and provide for the family because of Blair’s condition.

“It slow me up. I have been by her side through thick and thin. I don’t leave here because I have to be here when she wants to use the bathroom. When she’s not feeling well, I have to move her from point A to point B, take care of the children. It’s not easy for me because I have to be there for her,” Townsend said, mentioning that he is a taxi operator and does general appliance cleaning.

“Right now, I need some help to get back on my feet,” he added.

Even as Townsend spoke, shelter managers were preparing to welcome back a four-year-old with cerebral palsy who had been taken to Savannala-Mar Hospital for treatment. The child is fed through a tube, shelter manager J. Anthony Clarke said. Elsewhere on the compound, a mentally ill man was housed separately, and a safe space was created for a severely autistic child. He is among the 52 children at the shelter.

“One of the things that I am asking for is assistance from the infirmary or for social service to come in and assist because, most of them, they don’t have the proper caregiver to treat them as how they should be treated,” Clarke said. He noted that volunteers and residents are helping, but added that the support cannot be sustained.

MENTALLY CHALLENGED INDIVIDUAL

“We have a mentally challenged individual also, which we are not trained to deal with. So I’m asking for some assistance,” Clarke said, adding that donors have supplied medication.

It remains unclear how many disabled people are still in shelters following the hurricane. Minister of Local Government and Community Development Desmond McKenzie said the ministry has “an idea what the numbers are” but is verifying them.

“We want to be precise when we give the numbers,” he said Thursday at a press briefing.

In the hardest-hit parishes – St Elizabeth, Westmoreland, St James, Hanover, Trelawny, St Ann, and Clarendon – the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities has confirmed 15,260 registered disabled people. Executive Director Dr Christine Hendricks said the country must establish an inclusive disaster management and recovery framework.

“It is something that is important nationally, that there be this disaster management and recovery that includes people with disabilities. And it’s not only people with disabilities. You have others, too, the elderly, that may fall in the same situation,” she said.

“There needs to be an inclusive framework to ensure that all persons are accounted for, so that the recovery and management of persons can be adequately dealt with, you know, through training.”

Hendricks added that while shelter managers had been trained to care for disabled people, the scale of destruction and number of displaced persons have overwhelmed the system. She said temporary infirmary placement is being suggested, but questions remain about long-term support, including assistance to rebuild accessible homes for families and individuals with disabilities.

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