'No Jamaica, no Nally's - so I'm helping after hurricane'

Arlando White and his wife Sue run Nally's Jamaican Jerk & Grill in Leamington

"Without Jamaica there wouldn't be any Nally's, so I have to give back and try to help back home."

Restaurateur Arlando White is originally from Jamaica and for the last two weeks he has been collecting donations to help the victims of Hurricane Melissa, which devastated Caribbean communities and left 28 Jamaicans dead.

Mr White, who runs Nally's Jamaican Jerk and Grill in Leamington with wife Sue, said that for 48 hours after the storm struck, he was unable to get through to his family.

"I couldn't hear from the relatives, because all the phone signal were down, no electrics and I was really worried about them because there wasn't any contact [for] two days," he said.

Nearly 30 people were killed in Jamaica during the hurricane, and estimates suggest it will cost the local economy $14bn

That experience made even more determined to do what he could to provide support for islanders.

"I'm a humanitarian, so I'm always giving back," he said. "I'm always helping charities in this country (UK), we do a lot of charity catering and stuff like that."

Initial estimates of the cost of Melissa to the Jamaica economy have been put at $14bn.

Mr White said the scale of the damage there can't be underestimated.

"Most of the roads are gone, no electrics all of the poles are gone, so there's a lot of devastation over there at the moment," he said.

People can donate by dropping in to Nally's anytime to help those affected.

"You can just pop in any day and just drop off a donation, even if it's a can of beans or a pound of rice or a bar of soap, it doesn't matter, all donations are highly appreciated," Mr White added.

The items collected by Arlando White will be sent to Jamaica in the next few days.

Donated items have included the likes of power tools and DIY equipment, along with nappies, toiletries and bags of rice as well as tinned vegetables.

Mr White said the goods will be packaged up in the next few days and sent out to the island, while the collecting of donations will continue.

"It's an ongoing process, because right now at the moment Jamaica is in a really bad condition, and [the rebuilding] it's not gonna happen overnight or the next two or three months," he continued.

"So, whatever we can do at the moment, we're just gonna focus as much essential [items] over there on the ground, so they can make use of it and try to recover."