After Matthew: How Hurricane Matthew’s October Strike Reshaped Jamaica’s Coastal Damage Picture Heading Into 2017

Briefing

• Hurricane Matthew struck southwestern Jamaica as a major hurricane on October 4, 2016.
• St Elizabeth, Westmoreland, and Hanover communities on the south and west coasts sustained flood damage.
• North coast resort infrastructure suffered wind damage but was not directly in the storm’s path.
• Post-storm surveys documented significant beach erosion and coastal vegetation loss.
• Damaged communities began rebuilding in flood-affected low-lying areas as they had after previous storms.

Hurricane Matthew was not the worst storm Jamaica had experienced, but it was the most direct hit the island had sustained in years, and the fourth quarter of 2016 was shaped by the work of assessing, documenting, and responding to the damage it left behind. The storm tracked across the western tip of Jamaica and up the southwestern shore, producing storm surge flooding in communities in St Elizabeth, Westmoreland, and south coast sections of parishes to the north. Coastal villages that sat at or near sea level were inundated; fishing vessels and equipment were damaged or destroyed; low-lying agricultural land was salt-contaminated.

The north coast resort corridor — the spine of Jamaica’s tourism economy — was not in the storm’s direct path and sustained wind damage that was significant in some locations but not catastrophic. Hotels closed temporarily for clearing and repair; several properties suffered beach erosion that would require restoration work. The resort infrastructure was not structurally compromised at the level that the Bahamian and Caribbean islands in Matthew’s path north of Jamaica experienced.

The Communities That Always Rebuild Here

In the fishing villages and coastal communities of Jamaica’s south and west coasts, the response to Matthew’s damage was the same as it had been after previous storms: people whose lives were organised around the coast, whose livelihoods required them to be there, and who had no alternative land to move to, rebuilt where they were. The houses that had flooded were repaired or rebuilt on the same sites. The boats were patched, or new ones acquired through insurance or informal community assistance. The community’s relationship with the coast resumed on the terms that the community had always defined it — subsistence and necessity, not luxury or choice.

The absence of any managed retreat framework was noted by researchers and NGO workers who documented the post-Matthew recovery. Each successive rebuild in a flood-affected low-lying location represented a decision — in practice, a forced non-decision — to maintain the existing pattern of coastal settlement. In the absence of alternative land, relocation support, and livelihood alternatives, there was nowhere to retreat to. The vulnerability accumulated with each cycle.

The Tourism Recovery

Jamaica’s tourism sector recovered quickly from Matthew’s October disruption. The storm’s direct impact on the north coast resort belt was limited, and the Caribbean holiday season that runs from November through Easter brought bookings back to pre-storm levels within weeks. The Jamaica Tourist Board reported that the annual arrival figures for 2016 remained strong despite the October disruption. The resilience of the tourism sector and the vulnerability of coastal communities were not the same story, but they played out simultaneously on an island where those two populations shared the same shoreline.

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