A Tavistock volunteer is today (Tuesday, November 11) flying out on a humanitarian mission to hurricane-hit Jamaica.

Intrepid disaster relief worker Kirsten Edmonds Bailey is travelling on an operation to help communities made homeless by one of the largest storms ever to hit the Caribbean.

She has previously helped provide temporary schools and homes for the victims of the 2023 Moroccan earthquake which killed about 3,000 and injured more than 5,000.

Kirsten, a former Army officer, used her military leadership skills and readiness to adapt to a challenging situation to deploy fast to Morocco’s Atlas Mountains, as among the first organised rescuers on the ground shortly after the quake struck.

She is deploying as team leader to the Caribbean with a volunteer rapid response charity called REACT which specialises in getting into crisis-hit areas where others find it hard to access, to help the most vulnerable.

REACT has responded in a new role as standby partner to the UN World Food Programme (WFP). This means the volunteer group maintains operational readiness and situational awareness through its own operations and liaison teams, ready to support the WFP at any time.

Kirsten will encounter similar emergency repair and provision work in Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa, which caused damage equivalent to a one-third of the nation’s GDP.

Other first response workers already in the area are trying to help residents cut off by damage to roads and bridge, but are hampered by a lack of helicopters, social workers, doctors and engineers. This is exactly the scenario in which Kirsten and her REACT colleagues thrive - going in where others cannot or fear to tread.

Kirsten said: “REACT comprises a lot of military people because they have the mindset needed to be ready to reply to a crisis quickly. My kit is always washed and packed ready for the next emergency I’m summoned to.

“It’s not just skills, it’s about assessing quickly what’s needed and what can be done and how to do it fast. Military and former-military people work well with people from many backgrounds.”

She said her and REACT volunteers need to be prepared to live uncomfortably and be out of their comfort zone, physically and emotionally, for a week or more. She was in Morocco for two weeks without a shower.

However, she said: “The reward stays with you forever. Helping vulnerable people, like the elderly, women and children, in their hour of need.”

Other Caribbean countries hit by the hurricane, include Haiti, Bahamas and Cuba.

Across the UK food and basic necessities to support Jamaica are being collected by charities and individuals. Truro-based charity ShelterBox is sending supplies and personnel. The Royal Navy’s HMS Trent has landed expert engineers from 24 Commando Royal Engineer’s Crisis Response Troop which is repairing infrastructure.

The UK has also promised £7.5m emergency funding for immediate humanitarian needs along with 3,000 shelter kits and 1,500 solar-powered lanterns.

Climate scientists have put Hurricane Melissa’s ferocious intensity down to the climate crisis, warning that the warming ocean – driven by greenhouse gas emissions – is likely to make destructive hurricanes more common.

Anyone interested in volunteering in a crisis can find out more from the REACT website: https://www.re-act.org.uk