Almost 270 Trinidad and Tobago students at the Mona campus of The University of the West Indies (The UWI) in Jamaica say the Government has ignored their pleas for help as Hurricane Melissa intensifies and nears landfall on the island.

United States forecasters issued a hurricane warning for Jamaica yesterday as Storm Melissa reached hurricane strength, threatening catastrophic flooding in the northern Caribbean.

The Trinidad and Tobago Students Association (TTSA) insisted yesterday that reports suggesting students had received co-ordinated support from the Government were incorrect.