‘It has been really brutal’

Jamaicans in the United States and Canada have been grappling with a monster winter storm which began wreaking havoc last week and snowballed into this week, disrupting holiday travel as airlines scrubbed thousands of flights, with states of emergency declared in New York, New Jersey and Buffalo.

The weather system, which resulted in one of the coldest Christmases on record, also caused more than 60 deaths across the US alone up to mid-afternoon on Tuesday.

Florida, which normally has temperatures in the low- to mid-70s, had residents contending with temperatures in the 20s and 30s.

Several Jamaican outdoor functions in Florida had to be cancelled because of the extremely low temperatures.

In New York, the temperature plummeted to -11 degrees Fahrenheit, with heavy snow causing at least 28 deaths in Buffalo, one of the areas hardest hit in the US.

Beverly Morrison-Anderson, president of the Jamaican and American Association of Buffalo, told The Gleaner that like many other residents, she was trapped inside her home for a number of days because of the amount of snow that fell.

“The airport is still closed, something which has not happened before. The roads are impassable, and some people are just now getting access to their homes cleared,” she said on Tuesday, noting that winds had reached up to 79 miles per hour and the swirling snow made travelling impossible.

“In the 57 years that I have been living in the United States, I have not seen anything like this. It has been really brutal,” Morrison-Anderson told The Gleaner.

Jamaica’s consul general to New York, Alsion Wilson, who has jurisdiction for Buffalo, said that she is monitoring the situation in the city, keeping in contact with Jamaican organisations in the area.

“I am very focused on what is happening in Buffalo,” she told The Gleaner.

Wilson added that she had not verified whether any Jamaicans had died as a result of the extreme weather in Buffalo.

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, a Jamaican, has called on residents to stay off the roads to give crews the opportunity to clear the streets, so that emergency vehicles can get through.

New York Governor Kathleen Hochul has sent members of the National Guard to Buffalo to assist with the removal of the snow.

While Jamaicans in Connecticut also had to contend with record-low temperatures not seen in many years, it did not dampen the Christmas spirit, according to Doreen Forrest.

“We did not see any cancellation of functions, as we were not as affected as [other places were],” she said.

Jamaica’s honorary consul in Texas, Khalfani Omari Fullerton, told The Gleaner that unlike last year, when many Jamaicans were heavily impacted by the very low temperatures, he was not getting reports of similar cases this time around.

“What I am hearing is that some Jamaicans had the pipes in their homes frozen, but nothing compared with what happened last year,” he said.

President of the Jamaica Foundation of Houston, Dr Nicole Bent-Jones, also said that she did not hear of any Jamaicans being adversely affected by the winter storm.

There have been no reports of flooding or loss of power, and the airports remained open, she added.

“The impact was only for one day, Christmas Eve,” she said, in terms of the severity of the weather.

In Florida, Global Jamaican Diaspora Council member Dr Allan Cunningham said that the cold temperature impacted some outdoor events.

“People in Florida are not used to dealing with this kind of cold weather, and while property was not adversely impacted, it did put a damper on some Christmas celebrations,” he said.

He added that adequate warnings were issued to help people to cope with the weather.

In Canada, Toronto’s Pearson International Airport remained closed up to Tuesday afternoon, with thousands of holiday travellers stranded since as early as last Thursday, after what was supposed to be a layover for some turned out to be days of chaos. As they milled around the airport, hoping for answers and clarity from staff, none seemed forthcoming up to late yesterday, even after the worst of the storm had passed.

Lincoln Robinson, who travelled to Canada for Christmas, told The Gleaner that he was snowbound for a couple of days inside his house.

“I can now get out, as the snow has been cleared,” he said, with a bit of relief.

editorial@gleanerjm.com