Reggae icon Norville “Shaggy” Rogers is coordinating hurricane relief for Jamaica, mobilizing a private air fleet to rush critical aid to the island. As airports slowly reopen following Hurricane Melissa, one of the first planes, loaded with hundreds of pounds of supplies, departed from a private hangar at Miami International Airport, bound for Kingston.
For Shaggy, known globally for hits like “Boombastic” and “It Wasn’t Me,” the effort is deeply personal, as his wife was in Jamaica during the storm and witnessed the extensive devastation firsthand.
“My wife was on the ground, at our home in Jamaica, and the destruction is horrendous,” Shaggy said, according to CBS News.
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Despite his family’s safety, the anxiety across the island is compounded by his continued wait for news from friends, he shared recently.
“About 70% of the island that doesn’t have electricity. A lot of the phone towers are down. So, you know, that just not knowing is, is where the anxiety comes in,” Shaggy explained.
Motivated by the widespread destruction, the reggae star felt compelled to leverage his influence to mobilize aid.
“The Black River, you know, hospitals that are damaged, you know, most of Montego Bay, you know, and a lot of, a lot of it on the west, and of course is, is lots of damage.”
Joining Shaggy in the relief mission is Central Florida attorney Dan Newlin, who said it was important to support those in need. Shaggy teamed up with Newlin, who began using his two private jets to deliver donations and supplies.
“We live the American dream in different ways, and this is our time to give back,” Newlin said. “I feel honored to be here with Shaggy because I feel like this is what we all do.”
Shaggy is scheduled to stay in Jamaica for the next few days to assist with on-the-ground assessments and coordination of relief efforts. Concurrently, relief flights are set to continue making repeated trips to transport essential supplies to the communities most severely affected by the hurricane.
Every aspect of Hurricane Melissa, the most powerful storm ever to hit Jamaica, was worsened by the climate crisis, a team of scientists has found.
Hurricane Melissa, a Category Five storm, struck Jamaica on October 28 with devastating winds up to 185mph, according to The Guardian. The storm’s severity, which research indicates is now five times more frequent due to the climate crisis, caused catastrophic damage.
Melissa wiped out homes, businesses, crops, and livelihoods, with damage estimates equivalent to about a third of the island nation’s GDP. As the hurricane continued, it displaced hundreds of thousands of people in Jamaica and went on to hit Cuba, with its ferocious winds causing damage extending to the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
The disaster has resulted in at least 61 deaths.
According to the BBC, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the damage is “heartbreaking,” and one town he toured had been “completely destroyed.” But he added that the spirit of the population “remains unbroken.”
