‘It’s devastating’: Montgomery County Council member with Jamaican roots leads hurricane relief efforts

Laurie-Anne Sayles on a call with her mother in Jamaica after she got power back following Hurricane Melissa Courtesy Laurie-Anne Sayles Laurie-Anne Sayles on a call with her mother in Jamaica after she got power back following Hurricane Melissa Courtesy Laurie-Anne Sayles Recovery efforts continue in Jamaica over a week after Hurricane Melissa ravaged the island as a Category storm Now a Montgomery County Council member who s the daughter of Jamaican immigrants is working vigorously to provide accident relief Jamaicans understand hurricane season but a Category is not anything that they were prepared for commented At-Large Council member Laurie-Anne Sayles Her mother Hilda Williams-Sayles had just returned to Jamaica in September after spending years in Montgomery County working as a social worker She planned to spend half the year in her home country and Sayles was going to visit her over the holidays Then Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica as one of the island s strongest storms on record She s running low on water Sayles stated There s no flights coming in or coming out of Montego Bay so she d have to get to Kingston And it s taking almost eight hours to get back and forth because of the devastation and the roads not being cleared away just yet More than two dozen communities in Jamaica are still cut off by landslides and flooding Roughly half the island remains without power According to Prime Minister Andrew Holness preliminary estimates show the Category hurricane caused at least billion in damage Because of the dire conditions Sayles noted she wants to bring her mother back to the U S as soon as practicable It s hard because her heart s there and she sees the devastation she doesn t want to leave So numerous of us here wish we could be down there doing the hard work helping to clean up helping to clear roads helping those in need she announced through tears So I understand her struggle that she doesn t want to leave but we re so worried In an effort to help Sayles has partnered with Maryland Del Jheanelle Wilkins and the Embassy of Jamaica in D C to collect much needed supplies for the island including bottled water nonperishable food first aid kits soap diapers blankets and towels We cannot thank the population enough because the response has been overwhelming Sayles stated There are two drop-off locations The Silver Spring Civic Building on Veterans Plaza and the Montgomery College Bioscience Coaching Center in Germantown They re accepting donations through Nov You can also volunteer to help sort the supplies or donate money online This is Jamaica s Hurricane Katrina she disclosed It s devastating It s heartbreaking But we just appreciate all the love and patronage that we ve received so far Source