Jamaica: Hurricanes and Tornadoes
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of consular support provided to British nationals in Jamaica during and after Hurricane Melissa, including the evacuation flight operated on 2 November and the handling of over 700 consular enquiries.
Answered by Chris Elmore
The consular team at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) provides 24/7 assistance to British nationals and dealt with 850 consular enquiries related to Hurricane Melissa. The Register Your Presence portal was launched from the outset of the crisis to identify and contact British nationals in Jamaica, enabling us to provide targeted assistance.
The FCDO provided regularly updated information and advice to British nationals in Jamaica. Between 22 October and 2 November, the FCDO made 11 public updates to Jamaica's Travel Advice related to Hurricane Melissa.
The evacuation flight which operated on 2 November carried 104 passengers. Commercial options were available shortly thereafter resulting in low demand for further HMG flights.
The Rapid Deployment Team were present at both Kingston and Montego Bay Airports every day when commercial airlines were running their own flights between Friday 31 October and Tuesday 4 November to assist British nationals travelling on commercial flights to the UK. During that time, roughly 2,150 passengers passed through Kingston and 2,274 through Montego Bay on TUI and Virgin flights bound for the UK.
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