Jamaican farm workers in Nova Scotia are bracing for a difficult time when they return to their home country still reeling from the devastating impact of Hurricane Melissa.
The Category 5 hurricane made landfall on Oct. 28 and killed at least 45 people and displaced 30,000 households.
Seasonal workers who come to the province every year for work have been getting updates from their families about the dramatic scale of damage across the country.
“Where houses [were], all you’re going to see is just like empty land and lots of debris,” said Kensley Richards, who works at Taproot Farms in Port Williams, N.S., and is planning to return home next month.
Richards has been coming to work in the province since 2008 to support his family back in Manchester in west-central Jamaica where the damage was extensive.
“It was totally crushed,” he said. “Lots of people’s houses got crushed.”
The storm, which was one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, damaged his own property, where he has animals and crops.
“When I get home, I have lots of work there, picking up the pieces and seeing if I can fix it.”
Between Taproot and Noggins Corner Farm in Wolfville, there are about 70 workers from Jamaica at the height of the season.
It has been an anxious few weeks for the workers, especially immediately after the storm when it was difficult to reach their families amid disruptions to power and cell service.
“I think it was almost a week I don’t hear from them,” said Patrick Smith, who also works at Taproot Farms. “That was very painful.”
Smith’s wife, son and daughter eventually got through to him to let him know they were safe, but his region of Montego Bay in the country’s northwest was also hit hard.
“I plan to go back home and help family members and even at my farm, I will do what I can do. It’s all about help right now,” Smith said.
The workers are grateful for the support they’ve been getting from Port Williams and the surrounding area, where people have rallied to raise money to help out.
“The money goes to the farmers that are heading home to sort out their lives, so I think that was really impactful,” said Taproot’s co-owner Josh Oulton.
Beyond Port Williams, fundraising efforts are underway throughout the province.
Nova Scotia-based singer Jah’Mila, who is originally from Jamaica, will be one of the performers at a relief concert happening in Halifax on Nov. 29.
She also started a campaign for donations of much-needed supplies, such as tarps, ropes and batteries, as well as clothes, food and school supplies.
The supplies will be shipped to the country in the form of care packages put together by volunteers.
Jah’Mila said she’s doing this work “because a lot of people have suffered unimaginable loss,” adding that her own community of St. Ann in the north-central part of the country might not get electricity back until January.
Jah’Mila, Smith and Richards are all grateful that so many Nova Scotians are helping out.
“I will give thanks to each and everyone,” Richards said.
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