Inside a Jamaican Hospital rebuilding after Hurricane Melissa

As you drive into Falmouth, there is another moat of dirty looking standing water that surrounds the town.

On the road to the coast, while you slowly push the car, the arrow of the arrow flow and you hit the smell of the canal.

Passing cars drive slowly so as not to send the spray through the window.

This part of the historic city was hit by hurricane Melissa. The regional hospital is on the low-woming road that is Ruta sa Kapaspan at its center.

It was flooded as water dug into the grounds and into the facility.

Donna-Marie Hamilton-Wallace, the hospital’s head of nursing, was on duty at the time.

“It’s frustrating for patients and staff, the lower level is flooded because of the strong storm and we have to make a human chain to withdraw the upper level,” he said. “It’s scary but I’m glad the patients and staff are all okay.”

I first visited the hospital the morning after the typhoon hit.

The Histories clear the rubble from the buildings, without sleep for days facing an insurmountable challenge.

High winds destroyed the roof of the wards and left infrastructure, such as the boiler room, under four feet (1.2m) of water.

Now, 10 days later, I am back and things are slowly getting better.

At least 32 people have died as the storm ravaged Jamaica, causing about $7bn (£5.3bn) in damage Jamaican Minister Holness said.

Haiti and other parts of the Caribbean were also devastated when the Category 5 Storm moved through the region.

The suitcase piles of building material and damaged water equipment were cleared by men and women from the royal navy and commanders from the army’s response force.

There are also helping hands from a Spanish team that is here to build a field hospital.

Essential for getting clean scrubs clean and washed the bed, the laundry is still in a terrible condition, its roof just exposed beams. That’s the next job for a group of commands, who are working on how to fix the problems with some options that really need a solution.

The team inside the boiler room includes local workers and Noemi Pearmine, a marine engineer.

His job as a technician is usually to take care of the fuel system, the engines and propulsion of HMS Trolt, the Royal Navy Offshore Patrol Vessel that is supported here in Jamaica.

Usually he does not participate in missions like this, but getting the ignition is the key to operating the hospital.

Machelle Stubbs, the hospital’s chief medical officer, explained how important it is to get help at this point.

“A lot of our staff is still here, working,” he said. “Do not get a chance to take care of their own challenges, which compounds the problems even more. Fortunately we have been able to provide relief from other parts of the island and other international agencies.”

Cleansing teams from Chamaica in Jamaica’s health at the end of the week, brought in bright yellow buses to Jamaica to help their colleagues in need.

But now it helps from abroad which is important.

HMS Trent was sent to the Caribbean to provide assistance to the Overseas and Commonwealth Territories during the Hurricane Season.

First Lt Jacob Mikurenda was the second in command. He said that for sailors on this deployment it is an opportunity to put all their skills to use in a situation that is different from their normal duty.

For many sailors, this deployment – to provide humanitarian aid and disaster relief – is the first land operation of their careers.

“It’s amazing to see the resilience and the community of people recovering after the storm,” said Mr. Mikurenda.

The extent of the disaster can be seen in the small details as well as the large ones.

The staff hung the sheets to create shift washing lines that ran along the corridors of the wards. There are crumpled signs for hospital departments worn on the ground and medical records drying on a tarpaulin between the admin offices.

Cummings Cummings at Kemper Hospital prompts:

He organized people from around the world – diplomats, assistants from hospitals in other affected parts of the island and the country’s health administration – to help the efforts.

At first he said that he was too busy with interviews, but then he wanted to announce that things are going back to normal.

“Lots of material support, comfort, tools, labour, food, we’ve asked for it and it’s coming,” Ms Cummings said.

Communications is still an issue here in Falmouth and in our region, but there is hope that it will improve in the coming days.

WhatsApp and Phone are even more advanced, making calls difficult and co-ordination almost impossible.

But this week is better than the last, a feeling that most Jamaicans still have.