Recovery efforts continue in Jamaica, over a week after Hurricane Melissa ravaged the island as a Category 5 storm. Now, a Montgomery County Council member — who’s the daughter of Jamaican immigrants — is working vigorously to provide disaster relief.

“Jamaicans understand hurricane season, but a Category 5 is not anything that they were prepared for,” said At-Large Council member Laurie-Anne Sayles.

Her mother, Hilda Williams-Sayles, had just returned to Jamaica in September after spending 25 years in Montgomery County working as a social worker. She planned to spend half the year in her home country, and Sayles was going to visit her over the holidays.

Then Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica as one of the island’s strongest storms on record.

“She’s running low on water,” Sayles said. “The

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