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The United States is deploying several dozen disaster relief personnel, including urban search and rescue teams, to Caribbean island nations as they deal with the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa.
Disaster assistance response team personnel from regional centers in Washington and Miami and Costa Rica, as well as urban search and rescue teams Los Angeles CountyCalifornia, and Fairfax County, Virginia, are on their way to the region, three State Department officials said Wednesday.
They are expected to arrive in the next 24 to 48 hours and join local staff JamaicaThe Bahamas and this Dominican RepublicWhere they will be based in neighboring Haiti to offer help, according to the officials, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity because the teams were not yet on the ground.
Hurricane Melissa has killed dozens of people and caused widespread destruction in Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica. The monster storm made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday as one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record before weakening and moving towards Cuba.
State Department officials said they expected the U.S. response to the storm to be “robust,” “efficient,” and “effective.” He dismissed concerns that dismantling the US Agency for International Development, which previously oversaw relief efforts, would hamper the work.
Officials said the US government shutdown was also not a factor, and those essential to the operation were exempted from the furlough that has affected all federal agencies.
It was not immediately clear whether DART team members would be immediately paid for their work, but search and rescue teams are employed by their localities and their services are covered by long-term existing contracts.
Officials said the estimated needs include supplies such as hygiene kits, temporary housing, hygiene equipment and food, which will be drawn from warehouses in Miami and local stockpiles maintained by aid groups.
Officials and the US Army’s Southern Command in Tampa said this pentagon could play a role in delivering personnel and supplies to remote areas of affected countries but no decision has yet been taken on the scale of such involvement.
Southern Command spokesman Col. Manny Ortiz said plans for military support for disaster relief teams were being reviewed.
“As an initial measure, we have initiated plans to deploy a situational assessment team that will be tasked with assessing the conditions in typhoon-affected areas and the unique needs necessary for timely and effective life-saving, immediate humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations,” he said in a statement.
“Future decisions on potential US support will be based on their assessment, but it is still too early to speculate on what that support will consist of,” he said.
The Trump administration has built up a military presence in the Caribbean as part of its crackdown on drug trafficking, including deadly attacks on boats it accuses of being operated by cartels. The Pentagon says it is sending an aircraft carrier to join the eight warships, an array of aircraft and thousands of troops already in the region.
Navy and Pentagon officials say the storm has had no impact on military operations so far.
State Department officials said there are no current plans to evacuate any of the thousands of US citizens living in or visiting the affected islands and that they expect most of them to be able to board commercial flights or ships once airports and seaports reopen.
Officials said about 5,000 Americans are registered in the Smart Traveler enrollment program in Jamaica and an additional 3,200 Americans in the Bahamas. But he said he did not know the exact numbers because the program is voluntary and U.S. citizens are not required to register with the government when traveling abroad.
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Associated Press writer Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.