As Hurricane Beryl heads towards Jamaica, Jamaicans in Massachusetts watch and wait

BOSTON — With Jamaica in the path of Hurricane Beryl, Bostonians who grew up on the island are worried about their family and friends back home. People like Ernie Campbell, owner of Boston’s Jamaican Mi Hungry and whose 80-year-old mother still lives in Jamaica.

“The best thing we sell is rice, beans, plantains and jerk chicken. We call that The Classic,” Campbell said.

Local Jamaicans keep an eye on Hurricane Beryl

For Campbell, this Jamaican comfort food tastes like home, and he’s thinking about his family now more than ever.

“We’re trying to do what we can for the family,” Campbell said. “There’s going to be a lot of flooding. … the grocery store is going to be closed.”

Campbell is relying on friends in Jamaica to protect his loved one — a custom in the close-knit community. And people in Jamaica are getting creative, boarding up windows and using cars to build protective perimeters around homes as the Category 4 storm is raging over us.

“People are coming together and helping her. They’re putting plywood over the big glass windows. People with concrete houses are taking in other neighbors who are just boarding houses and protecting them,” Campbell said.

Campbell can only wait and eagerly await the arrival of Hurricane Beryl.

“I know there’s going to be a lot of hammering and hammering going on in the coming weeks,” Campbell said.

How You Can Help Hurricane Beryl Victims

According to the U.S. census, there are about 35,000 Jamaicans living in Massachusetts. The local community members pledge to support each other—in Massachusetts and Jamaica. That includes Denzil McKenzie, Jamaica’s former honorary consul in Boston.

“What we are doing is what we normally do. Organisations of Jamaicans are coming together to provide assistance when needed,” McKenzie said.

McKenzie said that while organizations prepare in Jamaica, local agencies in Massachusetts are ready to respond. He said money may be the most effective way forward, as sending supplies can be costly and their arrival unpredictable.

“We have people collecting medical supplies and food supplies, but there is a tendency to collect money. We have endured hardships, but we also have ways to deal with the hardships that we have endured,” Mckenzie said.