British tourist ‘completely let down’ by UK’s response to Hurricane Melissa

A British man who paid £3,500 for last-minute flights home from Jamaica because of Hurricane Melissa said he feels “completely let down” by the UK Government’s response to the storm.

Melissa hit south-western Jamaica near New Hope with sustained winds of 185mph on Tuesday, making it “one of the most powerful hurricane landfalls on record in the Atlantic basin” the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami said.

As many as 8,000 British citizens are in the Caribbean country, with people ordered to stay inside to avoid the world’s strongest storm of the year so far.

David Rowe was on holiday in Jamaica with his wife and two children for 10 days before deciding to return to the UK early because of the storm.

Mr Rowe said the family caught the one of the last flights out of the airport in Montego Bay on Sunday, just before the airport closed, and that he had had to take out a bank loan to cover the cost.

Speaking to the PA news agency, the 47-year-old said: “We took one of the last planes to take off, and I was even at the airport with my family and going ‘is this plane even going to be allowed to take off because the wind speed is picking up?’ and then we would have been stranded.”

On Tuesday, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) urged British nationals in Jamaica to register their presence through the Government website to receive updates from the FCDO on the hurricane.

Mr Rowe said he contacted his insurance company who told him he was unable to make a claim because the FCDO had not issued a warning saying it was unsafe to travel.

The IT programme manager said: “I’m not prepared to have my children go through what I’m hearing now and seeing on news – people stuck inside their bathrooms for 24, 48 hours while the storm passes over.

“That’s just horrific and I just feel completely let down by the UK Government.”

Of the FCDO’s response to the storm, Mr Rowe said: “It’s all too late, their reaction and their response to the storm has been too late – after the fact.

“The advice should have been last week, like on the Saturday – don’t travel because a lot of the travel companies use the FCDO guidance on travel for all their planning and the decisions they make as an organisation.”

Mr Rowe said that up until Tuesday, FCDO support for UK citizens in Jamaica had been “non-existent” with regard to the hurricane.

“I feel really be ashamed to be associated with the UK Government, because we should be doing better,” he added.

“In a war, you would get a clear ‘no, don’t travel there’,” he said.

“This is not like yesterday it was brilliant sunshine, today it’s a Category 5 – this has been building up and has been in the news since last Thursday, last Wednesday.”

He continued: “There should have been something done much sooner than this and a lot of the UK nationals and people on holiday there, they are stranded.

“This could have been prevented with with better action from the UK Government.”

Asked how he felt when deciding to leave the country early, Mr Rowe said he and his wife Abby did not sleep for the last two days of their holiday as they were worrying about the safety of their children.

“I’m very anxious, and even now we’re very sad, but we’re sad for the people have been left there who couldn’t get out of the country,” he said.

“Sad for the lovely Jamaicans that we made friends with at our hotel, that they’re now in a position that they’re putting their lives on the risk looking after us in our hotel, and they’re staying in there, in hotels themselves, not allowed to go home, can’t be with their own families, looking after British citizens and holidaymakers.

“My wife was in tears about making this decision and had sleepless nights last couple of nights before we left.”

An FCDO spokesperson said: “We understand how worrying developments in Jamaica are for British nationals and their families.

“Our travel advice includes information about hurricane season, which runs from June to November. Last Thursday we updated our travel advice for Jamaica to include a warning about Tropical Storm Melissa and that it was expected to intensify over the coming days.

“The safety and security of British nationals is our top priority, and that is why we are urging any British nationals in Jamaica to follow the guidance of the local authorities and register their presence with us to receive updates.”