California deploys search and rescue personnel to Jamaica following Hurricane Melissa

The Urban Search and Rescue team from the Los Angeles County Fire Department has unique training qualifications for international deployment in addition to extensive search and rescue expertise. Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) is a specialized discipline that involves locating, extricating, and providing initial medical stabilization for victims trapped in confined spaces due to structural collapses, transportation accidents, or other disasters. These teams use a multi-hazard approach, responding to events like earthquakes, tornadoes, and terrorist attacks. They are highly trained and self-sufficient teams that provide a variety of technical skills and equipment to manage complex disaster situations, often working alongside local emergency services.

This team will join colleagues from Fairfax County, Virginia as they are the only search and rescue teams in the country with the unique combination of search and rescue and international qualifications. The teams also include search and rescue canines and specialized equipment.

“California has built one of the world’s most advanced urban search and rescue programs in the world,” said Cal OES Director Nancy Ward. “We are proud to stand with our neighbors as so many states and international partners have aided California in our times of need.”

Hurricane Melissa’s regional impact

Hurricane Melissa made landfall as a powerful Category 5 storm with sustained winds of 185 miles per hour that left destruction across the Caribbean, including Jamaica. By Thursday, Hurricane Melissa dropped down to a Category 2 storm packing 105 mph winds as it approached Bermuda. 

Catastrophic flash flooding and landslides are expected to persist in parts of the region, according to the National Hurricane Center. Jamaica is among the hardest-hit areas, where severe flooding and destructive winds have obliterated homes and brought down utility poles.

Hurricane Melissa is one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean, based on wind strength and pressure.

California helping its neighbors

This latest deployment reaffirms California’s role as a global leader in disaster response, where skill, compassion, and collaboration come together to save lives and help communities rebuild with dignity and resilience.

Today’s deployment builds on California’s extensive history of national and international mutual aid assistance. California has a strong record of helping other countries with search and rescue following a disaster, most recently in the wake of a 7.8 earthquake in Turkey along with other disasters around the world.

Governor Newsom deployed California support to Florida to bolster the response to Hurricane Helene. California also sent aid to Florida in October 2024 to assist after Hurricane Milton, and to  Texas in July and Georgia in August in response to tropical storms. In the past two years, California has also deployed firefighters to New Mexico, Hawaii, Oregon and Montana.