What’s Happening in Black River? A Breakdown of the Relief Failure After the Hurricane

Residents from Black River, St. Elizabeth, are sounding the alarm, and frankly, it’s hard not to share their outrage. In the fragile hours after the hurricane swept through, what should have been a coordinated, decisive government response instead looked like hesitation, confusion, and absence.

Some people are alleging that the relief agencies on the ground were ineffective—no tents, no structured food program, no organized medical presence. In a disaster of this scale, essential services should have been stationed and ready: emergency tents, mobile clinics, water and sanitation units, ground teams tracking displaced residents, and a rapid deployment of resources to stabilize those most affected. That simply did not happen. Instead, helicopters circled overhead, assessing the destruction from a distance, while families on the ground waited—hungry, exposed, unaccounted for.

Displaced residents still don’t have proper shelter. They don’t have a central point of service. They don’t have a coordinated system guiding them toward safety, medical care, or basic necessities.

In 2025, after so many global lessons in disaster management, this should never be the story. And yet here we are.

Let’s be clear: relief comes before rebuilding. Before talk of construction, procurement, or long-term recovery, there must be tents, food, water, sanitation, health services, child protection services, and community support teams on the ground immediately. That’s Emergency Response 101. You stabilize the people, then you move to rebuilding the community.

But from all accounts, Jamaica’s government response is lagging—and community members are noticing. Many are openly saying that if it weren’t for people like Shaggy and other Jamaican celebrities abroad, flying in and stepping up, many families would still be starving, stranded, and forgotten.

It shouldn't take celebrity intervention for people to get basic relief.So the question stands like a heavy drumbeat: What is going on?

Why weren’t emergency tents pre-positioned? Why wasn’t there an immediate medical and sanitation rollout? Why do residents have to beg for what should be automatic in a disaster? And most importantly: Who is accountable for this breakdown, and when will the people of Black River get the relief they deserve?

By Rev. Renaldo C McKenzie, Author of "Neoliberalism. Globalization, Income Inequality Poverty and Resistance". 

Read the full article in The Neoliberal Journals at https://theneoliberal.com

Support us at $renaldomckenzie or via The Neoliberal at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=USSJLFU2HRVAQ

Check out our store page at https://store.theneoliberal.com

Email us at [e-mail]

Episode Transcript

(00:04):
This is the new Liberal Around podcast.
Are you listening to me? Yes.
So I want I was listening. To me.
Earlier I was talking to you about I took home one of our.
Cousins yesterday from Thanksgiving.
I took him OK. His family is from Saint

(00:25):
Elizabeth, OK, his family from Saint Elizabeth and I.
Asked him about the hurricane, Imean.
I mean, how you guys feel in thehurricane?
I was saying it wasn't good. They live in Black River.
The hurricane touchdown on BlackRiver.
Black River got it the worst. And he said that, you know, it's
just, it's, it's still bad, you know, it's, you know, and his

(00:48):
mom or his aunt had to. Move.
And then go somewhere else and where she went also got.
Flooded out and. He said that The thing is he
just and I spoke with him, I said what's going on with the
relief effort and said he said it's not going good.
All they want to talk is big. Talk and go.
Around and take. Pictures and photo.
OPS and talk about rebuilding. He said the relief is awful
after the hurricane. He said that they didn't there

(01:12):
was nobody. They was they didn't build any
tents recorded. They did not build any tents or
set up tents and in a temporary,temporary tents, you know,
temporary food, food stations, temporary sanitation stations,
you know, checking the people make sure that health wise they

(01:32):
are good. You know, the immediate the
immediately after the hurricane that was not done and it's still
not being done. So I'm like, what is going on?
I mean, in terms of other peopleeating there, are they
coordinating efforts into that, You know, in me just to just to
mitigate and to minimize the immediate effects of the of the
hurricane, the relief. And then afterwards you can talk

(01:55):
about rebuilding. OK, You don't, you don't, we
don't. The first thing the first
responded. What what was the first response
like? You know, you have a you pop
talk. People talk about first
response. There was no first response.
The government had no of Jamaicahad no coordinated effort.

(02:15):
The response was awful. And even now and what we're
hearing is rebuilding. But what about relief in terms
of people don't have clothes, people don't have food, people
don't have shelter, people don'thave water?
Ricardo, I heard that there's dead carcasses on the in dead
carcasses. And they're asking if we can
bring back the vultures and or the junk, the crows, the giant

(02:38):
crows in Jamaica, whatever they call them.
OK, I don't know. I guess they'll I don't know.
I heard that there's not. Enough for something.
Maybe because after the hurricane, the hurricane, they
fled in a bird, usually in a flyer.
But they want them to. Come.
But they talk. But you know, the first
response, what I am concerned about the I mean, hardly anybody

(02:59):
died. Nobody died.
The people are there. But there's sanitation issue.
I mean, there is shell, no shell.
You know, we need what, what they should have built like
tents, like temporary tents, like what they when they do the
immigration thing here in the USand they build all these, they
can't. I mean, they call them
concentration camps, but they'renot concentration camp.
They build these tents and you know, they try to help people

(03:21):
provide food and clothing and shelter.
When the Haitians were coming here from Haiti and they they
build tents and they provide them with food and clothes and,
and they provided medication mobile stations for them and
stuff. What is going on with that?
It was. The idea of.
Helping other people like the Haitians.

(03:43):
Yeah. But no, I'm just running an
example in terms of what's goingon in the hurricane after
immediately after the hurricane the 1st.
Response should be relief and. You know, just.
Helping the people. Who are immediately affect are
affected by the hurricane, people who lose their homes, the
people don't have food to eat. There is medical issues in
checking or ensuring that everybody's fine.

(04:04):
But like none of that was set upstation, set up resources.
Are all the resources are alwayslike pretty?
Level so Mikado but what should have but the government should
have set up temporary relief centers in this immediately.

(04:25):
They should have flat flown helicopters over the area.
Yes. Just to assess the damage and go
into the see what's what the immediate.
Needs are. And and ensure that not only
just what the immediate needs are provide tents in certain
areas for the. For these people to go to to
feed. Them to close them to test them

(04:46):
to ensure to assess their medical needs and to see if
there's no ensure that there's no outbreak of cholera or
anything like that and so that they have food clothes, shelter
and their immediate needs are met once that is done then the
next step is to. Rebuild.
Yeah, that is that the Jamaican and I heard that the first

(05:07):
person to have done that was Shaggish the celebrity.
The Jamaican celebrities were flying in and providing them,
giving them food and feeding them and so on and so forth.
The Jamaican government did not organize and coordinate those
efforts because what has happened, I told you I teach
Caribbean thought and cabin history.
We have a mentality, A dependency, Ricardo, a

(05:28):
dependency. Well, we, we constantly look for
people to come in and do those immediate fine.
The rebuilding effort, other people can do it.
Maybe, maybe they need help withthat, but at least the immediate
relief. Effort.
You mean we can't? They can't do that either.

(05:49):
Yeah, it's ridiculous, you know.Ridiculous.
Oh yeah, I'll call you back. I would like to talk about that
on the part on the we we should talk about that in the podcast
and also the latest from John Anthony Castro.
We're learning that I'm. Putting together some questions
about that we I want to make sure I get it together.

(06:12):
So I'm building itself and I need to also have a couple
podcasts produced. And when I asked a question
about your book, your first book, your second book, if he
says what he deduced while I wastalking about that, because I
know there's something today, I was what's an article?
There was a black man that was on TV talking about the
difference between black American, black Africans and

(06:35):
black Caribbean people. And it's interesting and it's
really underlined what your original neoliberal argument of
teachers was about, about looking at social issues
regardless, particularly people from Purgo country like Jamaica,
African art developer nation versus people from
industrialization who are, who are considered poor or

(07:01):
marginalized. And you look at their thought
processes and it was exactly what this carpet guy was about
in his argument. And I'm like, didn't he read
about the book because the idea behind a neoliberal
decentralization economic analogy book addresses.
He talked about it, but he didn't do it from a intellectual
point of view because he was notwell read or intellect enough to

(07:22):
talk about it. But he was he was on to
something. I said this is what Ronaldo was
trying to get to without, you know, was talking about it.
I've not heard and actually dissected or get back down into
that and I think he needs to. Well, my, well actually.
Oh, I think we lost Ricardo. And that's about the actually
the second book speaks to that, which I haven't published yet.

(07:45):
And then my research at Georgetown and at Temple will
bring that together because at Temple I was doing the PhD in
iphrocology, because after doingthe the Doctor of Liberal
Studies at Georgetown, I realized.
That the foundation. Of western civilization on
liberal. Studies is lacking.
It was lacking. So I decided to do the PhD in
Afrocology and started to do some courses in in afrocology.

(08:07):
It got we I took a little break from that a bit because of my
mom's death and what I had to bedealing with.
Hopefully I can get a chance to go back and complete my PhD, but
if I don't get a chance to complete the PhD, the research
will continue. There are several which will be
released shortly. There's so many things I'm
working on, but this is the new liberal podcast and I was

(08:28):
speaking with Ricardo about several different things.
Of course, one of the things that we were talking about was
one of the things that we were talking about was what what I
learned about what was what's going on in Jamaica and of.
Course, I did write an article. That speaks to this.
I wrote an article and which I've won about John Anthony

(08:50):
Castro. And I also wrote an article
about what about the the relief effort in Jamaica and if I can
share that article with you now in the article, and if I could,
I'm going to bring up the article now.
The title of the article is in the New Liberal journals.
It's published in the new Liberal journals, the near the
near liberal judges at the near liberal corporations more and

(09:12):
magazine. The title of the of the article
is left in the storm. Black River residents say
Jamaica's relief response failedthem.
And I published this about an hour two hours ago and I did The
article begins like this. When a hurricane tears through a
country, the wind should not be the.

(09:36):
Only thing. Roaring.
The government's emergency response should be loud,
visible, coordinated. A Symphony of tents rising.
Yes, rising. Medical units mobilizing.

(09:57):
A Symphony of a Symphony of tents rising.
Medical units mobilizing. Food.
Lines forming and rescue teams. Rescue teams sweeping every
corner. Where fear still sits trembling.

(10:19):
And in the art, but in black River.
But in Black River St. Elizabeth, residents say the
silence was louder than the storm across the parish.
Across the. Parish.
People. Are alleging that.
Jamaica's immediate. Relief efforts were plainly
ineffective. Not delayed, not under staffed.

(10:43):
Ineffective as in no tents, no structured food program, no
medical stations, no clear governmental ground game, and no
coordinated system for displaced.
Residents, that's what. We are learning, OK?
That's what we are learning, andI'm not happy about that.
Imagine. Imagine surviving a hurricane

(11:04):
only to find that the real emergency begins afterward,
residents tell us. Helicopters circled overhead,
surveying the destruction from asafe altitude, while families on
the ground stood hungry, soaked and scared, waiting for help
that never seemed to land. Children, the elderly, those

(11:27):
with chronic illnesses. None were properly accounted
for. People slept in damaged homes,
in cars, on the makeshift tops, because there was no.
Organized. Shelters.
Or shelter site. In a disaster, assessment from
the sky is not relief. On the ground, yes.

(11:52):
Where was the emergency infrastructure in best practice?
Disaster response? Essential services should be pre
positioned and deployed immediately.
Emergency tents and top hauling shelters.
Mobile medical units, water and sanitation teams.

(12:16):
Tracking systems for displaced individuals, Field kitchens and
food distribution. Child protection and elderly
care stations. Trained personal coordinating
the chaos. Yet residents reported that none
of this materialized and, crucially, no dedicated relief

(12:39):
station. No dedicated relief station was
set up in the affected zones. Instead, word spread through the
community that it was private citizens, Jamaican celebrities
across, and charitable supporters like Shaggy who moved
faster than the state. They showed up with food, water

(13:02):
supplies and comfort while the official machinery was still
warming up its engines. Yes, that's.
What we are learning today, ladies and gentlemen, that's
what we're learning today. Ladies and gentlemen, OK, I'm
having a. Problem.
Here as I'm on, we're under a bit of attack, but I won't be

(13:23):
dismayed and I won't be deterred.
Yes. But Jamaica is a proud nation.
But pride doesn't fill an empty stomach.
Relief before rebuilding. Always before rebuilding
roadways and promising reconstruction contracts.

(13:43):
The first order of national dutyis human stabilization.
You know, let me, let me say this again.
Jamaica is a proud nation, yes, but pride doesn't fill an empty
stomach. Relief before rebuilding is
always the key. And before rebuilding roadways

(14:04):
and promising reconstruction contracts, the first order of
national duty is human stabilization.
That means shelter, food, water,medical care, sanitation,
safety, psychological support, accurate accounting of displaced
persons. Yes, that is what we are talking

(14:27):
about, ladies and gentlemen. After that.
And only after that do you beginthe work of reconstruction.
Residents in Black River say they were leaf leapfrogged.

(14:50):
Straight to assessment. Straight to assessment without
ever receiving phase one, which is immediate relief.
It's like checking the foundation before checking.
It's if people are alive inside.So what's going on?
What's? Really going on?

(15:11):
It's it's the. Question rumbling through
WhatsApp chats, community meetings, radio call, insurance
and roads, roadside conversations.
Why was there no rapid response?Where were the tents?
Where were the mobile clinics? Where were the boots on the

(15:33):
ground? And why did it take celebrities
to do what the government shouldhave done on day one?
We don't yet have a full answer,but we do have a full picture
painted by the people living it.Living it and their picture is
not flattering. A storm hit them once.

(15:55):
The system hit them twice. A call for accountability and
action. This moment is bigger than Black
River. It's about the National
Emergency response Blue, the theNational Emergency response
blueprint, the gaps in planning and the lived experience of

(16:16):
Jamaicans who feel abandoned when disaster strikes.
This is an invitation, or rathera demand for transparent
explanation from government agencies.
Rapid deployment of delayed relief.
Public mapping of shelters and services.

(16:37):
Medical and sanitation units on site.
Assessment teams walking the streets, not flying above them.
A published timeline of the government response oversight
from civil society groups. A comprehensive, modernized

(16:58):
disaster response plan. Because if we cannot protect our
people in the first 48 hours after a hurricane, then we are
not protecting them at all. Black River is not asking for
luxury. They're asking for humanity.
And as one resident put it, standing beside a damaged home

(17:21):
and an untouched food bin, he said we.
Survived the hurricane. We just didn't survive the
waiting. I'm Ronaldo McKenzie, the editor
in chief and president of The Neoliberal, of the Neoliberal
Journals and the Neoliberal Corporation and.

(17:41):
Please this. Story is available in the
neoliberal.com. Thank you so much and please
send us your feedback. Let us know what.
You feel about. You think about the the
government response and there. Is a.
There is a. There is.
A Jamaica Strong benefit concerton December 12.

(18:03):
Organised by Roadblock Radio andothers.
Including Shaggy. Shaggy.
Foundation, and they're doing a foundation.
It's going to be December 12 at about 5:00 or 6:00 PM at the
Audubon Centre in New York. They're raising funds to tackle
the relief efforts. Please, we will talk we I will
have Sophia White, one of the. Organizers of Roadblock Radio on

(18:23):
Sunday. Talking with me.
About the about the relief effort and about the show
that's. Coming up, but we hope.
To speak with somebody from the Jamaican government about what
we're learning and what's happening now.
Ronaldo McKenzie of the new Liberal podcast.

(19:04):
This is the Near Liberal Around podcast.