The government of Jamaica has responded today to the reporting by ITV News this week on the disastrously slow emergency response in the aftermath of the hurricane.
One of the key ministers involved in organising the relief effort says no country in the world could have coped with the scale and intensity of the storm.
Matthew Samuda, the minister for climate change, told me that this hurricane was so monstrous that it should even be recognised as an entirely new extreme weather phenomenon – the world’s first "category six" storm.
He told ITV News: "This is a storm which could be classified as the world’s first category six hurricane.
"If this storm had hit New York or London, the response would not be much different – because it was 185mph winds, sustained, that hit a very old set of towns. So this is to be expected."
He continued: "There is no jurisdiction on earth that would function seamlessly post-185mph storm."
He also told ITV News that the world must now "go back the drawing board" and find new materials and construction techniques so that communities that can be built to survive more extreme weather.
"We’re going to have to pull the best engineers in the world to look at the solutions that can withstand a category five or a category six storm," he said.
"We are on the front line of the climate crisis."
The minister also insisted that the aid and relief effort in western Jamaica would now dramatically ramp up, acknowledging some failures.
He said the slow response can be explained by logistical challenges like roads being destroyed and pre-positioned supplies being washed away.
That is unlikely to diminish the criticism from those in western Jamaica who are still waiting for help. They are pleading for food, water, medications, and shelter.
Many remain homeless and hungry. Others are marooned in hill communities.
Exactly, a week after the catastrophe, the survivors must hope the minister and his government – backed by Western logistical support – can belatedly deliver.
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