The powerful storm, which made landfall Tuesday, ripped roofs off homes, flooded streets, and reduced entire neighborhoods to rubble. In Kingston, a transformer exploded, sending sparks across water-soaked roads.
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"People are kind-hearted and they want to help," said Christopher Chaplin, Jamaica's Honorary Consul in Philadelphia. Chaplin is working to support the city's estimated 30,000 Jamaican residents, helping them connect with family and resources back home.
"A lady who had built her house, lives in Philadelphia, and it got flattened, so she's trying to find somewhere for her son and brother to live so we're working on that," he said.
He is coordinating donation efforts across the city, asking for hygiene kits, tarps, and generators - rather than clothing or food - to meet urgent needs.
"I suspect the next four weeks are going to be critical, and that's how long we expect to be collecting," he added.
Among those affected is Kim Small's family from Horsham, who were in Jamaica celebrating a birthday when the hurricane hit.
They've been sheltering in a Montego Bay hotel room without water or air conditioning.
"The girls want you to know they don't have water or air. We have no water. We have no air. We have love," Small said.
She described the terrifying moment the storm battered their hotel: "We could hear that constantly - banging up, banging up,
banging up - so I was praying it didn't blow off the hinge."
Their return to the U.S. was scheduled for Monday, but with airports still closed, flights have been repeatedly canceled. "It's looking like it's going to be Saturday," Small said.
The Jamaican Consulate in Philadelphia is urging residents to donate to verified relief funds to help those stranded and in need.