The UK government will provide an additional £5 million in emergency humanitarian funding to support the Caribbean region’s recovery from Hurricane Melissa.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said the additional funding follows the £2.5 million support package announced earlier this week.
The money will be put towards sending humanitarian supplies to help those whose homes have been damaged and those without power, including more than 3,000 shelter kits and 1,500 solar-powered lanterns.
It comes after the government announced it has chartered flights to help British nationals leave Jamaica.
Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as a category five hurricane on Tuesday, carrying top winds of 185mph.
The storm then raged through Cuba and Haiti on Wednesday, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
Jamaican officials said more than 13,000 people remained crowded into shelters, with 72% of the island without power and only 35% of mobile phone sites in operation.
Government workers and residents have begun clearing debris-laden roads in a push to reach dozens of isolated communities,
Officials said at least 19 people have died in Jamaica, including a child, and they expected the death toll to keep rising.
In Cuba, heavy equipment began to clear blocked roads and highways and the military helped rescue people trapped in isolated communities and at risk from landslides.
No deaths were reported after the Civil Defense evacuated more than 735,000 people across eastern Cuba ahead of the storm.
Residents were slowly starting to return home on Thursday.
Melissa also unleashed catastrophic flooding in Haiti, where at least 30 people were reported killed and 20 others were missing, mostly in the country’s southern region. Some 15,000 people also remained in shelters.
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