Emergency drinking water production, mobilization of Veoliaforce volunteer experts, the Veolia Foundation is continuing its work in Jamaica, which was hit by Hurricane Melissa at the end of October. This effort is being carried out in partnership with the French Red Cross.
On Tuesday, October 28, Hurricane Melissa struck western Jamaica with full force. Winds gusted at nearly 300 km/h, devastating the southwestern part of the Caribbean island. Landslides and coastal flooding caused exceptional damage, just as the population was recovering from Hurricane Beryl, which struck less than 18 months ago.
In response to this disaster, the Veolia Foundation joined forces with the French Red Cross's PIRAC (Regional Intervention Platform for the Americas and the Caribbean) to address the shortage of drinking water. Three water purification units (two Aquaforces 2000 and one Aquaforce RO to deal with the possibility of brackish water sources) were sent from Guadeloupe via the French Navy.
Several rotations of water experts
A first Veoliaforce volunteer was made available to the French Red Cross and its Regional Intervention Platform for the Americas and the Caribbean (PIRAC) in the days following the event. Cédric Thévenot, a water expert with extensive knowledge of humanitarian contexts, spent just under two weeks in the field to receive the Aquaforces and identify deployment sites.
His work preceded the mobilization of Daniel Rowe, a Veoliaforce volunteer from Veolia's U.S. teams, who was trained in October on humanitarian water production. Working alongside Céline Prompsy, a volunteer from the Paris region (Ile-de-France), they were able to produce the much-needed drinking water. The water is being distributed to the Jamaican population and also benefits a health center. Originally assigned for two weeks, Daniel Rowe and Céline Prompsy extended their mission for a third week to improve water access conditions in coordination with the French Red Cross.
A fourth Veoliaforce volunteer, Vanessa Armstrong, also from Veolia’s U.S. teams, took over—still in collaboration with Red Cross personnel—to maintain water production, inventory the equipment, and train six Veoliaforce colleagues from the Water Technologies division. Based in Jamaica, these experts will organize the storage of the deployed Aquaforce unit at the end of the mission.
A mobilization supported by the first hub opened by the Veolia Foundation
This humanitarian mission is supported by the Veoliaforce hub lanched by the Veolia Foundation with colleagues from all Veolia's North American entities at the end of October. The aim is to improve the responsiveness and effectiveness of interventions by drawing on equipment and a growing number of employees trained in emergencies and extreme crises.
The Aquaforce units transported to Jamaica were pre-positioned in Guadeloupe thanks to the long-standing partnership between the Veolia Foundation and the French Red Cross and PIRAC, which stores the equipment pre-positioned for the hurricane season with the support of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.
