A year after Hurricane Melissa opened a ditch through their scheme, Estuary homeowners in St James are packing up again after one hour of rain.
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, 27 October 2026. Homeowners in Phase Two of the Estuary Housing Scheme in Friendship, St James, are leaving their houses again after a downpour of about an hour on Monday, 19 October, left parts of the community under at least four feet of water, the Jamaica Observer reported. The flooding came days before the first anniversary of Hurricane Melissa, which collapsed a section of the development’s road and drainage in October 2025, and it has turned a repair job that was once described as nearly finished into an open question about when, and whether, families can safely go home.
Four feet of water in an hour
Residents told the Observer on 21 October that the water rose quickly after the rain on 19 October, that some families were relocating, and that one woman had to be helped out by neighbours. Small shops in the community were also flooded, and the paper reported that nearby Catherine Hall was under water again.
On 21 October, the Member of Parliament for St James East Central described the situation as an emergency and called on the National Housing Trust (NHT) and the developer, West Indies Home Contractors Limited (WIHCON), to act immediately. According to the Observer’s report of 23 October, published after he toured the scheme with the minister with responsibility for works, water reached about four feet and more than 20 houses were affected. The MP said repairs had started, with pipes delivered to the site, and then stopped without explanation. He also said sewage was backing up into homes from higher ground, a claim this publication has not been able to verify independently. At least one family had packed up and left, the paper reported, after a similar experience in September.
A scheme built for working families
The Estuary was conceived as a large affordable housing project for the tourism capital. When ground was broken in February 2017, the Jamaica Information Service reported that the NHT and WIHCON planned 1,500 units on 254 acres at a cost of J$7 billion, aimed at low income earners, with completion then set for December 2019. The homes in the affected phase were bought within the last five years, according to The Gleaner.
That makes the current flooding more than a local drainage problem. For many owners these houses are their first homes, financed through the NHT, and the mortgage obligations continue whether or not the house can be lived in.
What happened after Melissa
During Hurricane Melissa, floodwater caused part of Phase Two to collapse, turning a section of road into a ditch 60 to 70 feet deep and leaving sewage and water pipes broken or exposed, The Gleaner reported on 8 March. The NHT and WIHCON began restoration work together, and the Trust provided financial support and three months of temporary accommodation to affected homeowners.
The NHT’s regional manager for western Jamaica told The Gleaner that 35 residents had been affected by the collapse, and the paper reported on 1 March that about 20 had accepted relocation. Homeowners were offered a contents grant of up to J$1.5 million and a structural grant of J$500,000, and a mortgage moratorium that deferred payments rather than forgave them, the paper reported.
By early March, a resident estimated that the work was about 95 per cent complete and a member of the restoration team, who was not authorised to speak publicly, said the project would be finished well before the 2026 hurricane season. The regional manager had expressed hope that residents could return home by mid March.
The repairs that did not hold
By late September the picture had changed. Television Jamaica reported on 25 September that houses near the drainage pond stood empty and that 42 people had already left. Residents told the station that when the pond overflowed, dirty water entered their homes.
In a statement to the station, the NHT said it had temporarily relocated residents living close to the pond while remedial work was carried out. It said the contractor had been pumping water out of the pond but that heavy rain had slowed the process, and that designs were being finalised to re-engineer the pond and drainage system, with work expected to begin shortly and to take up to six months.
Residents told the Observer in October that a message in their citizens’ association chat said the work should be completed by December 2026, a date some of them doubted. On the timeline the NHT gave in September, a full re-engineering programme may well run into 2027.
Who carries the risk
The Estuary case highlights a question that may matter to every buyer in a new scheme: when drainage designed for a development fails, who pays to fix it, and who pays while it is being fixed? In this case the developer and the NHT have taken on the restoration and have offered grants, temporary housing and deferred payments. But deferral is not forgiveness, and homeowners who have moved out may be paying for somewhere else to live while their mortgage balance waits for them.
There are also wider costs. Repeated flooding may affect what these homes could sell for, how easily they can be insured and how willing lenders are to finance future sales in the area. Those effects are likely to depend on whether the re-engineered system works when the next heavy rain comes.
Questions buyers may want to ask
For anyone buying into a new development, especially on lower ground or near a retention pond, the Estuary experience suggests some practical questions. Has the drainage been designed for the heavier rainfall now being seen in Jamaica? Who is responsible for maintaining ponds, drains and roads after handover? Has the area flooded before, including during the current hurricane season? And does the home insurance being offered actually include flood cover?
None of these questions guarantees protection, but asking them in writing before signing may give buyers a clearer record if something goes wrong later.
What comes next
The NHT has not publicly set a firm completion date for the re-engineered drainage beyond the six month estimate it gave in September. Tomorrow, 28 October, marks one year since Hurricane Melissa made landfall near New Hope, Westmoreland, as a Category 5 storm, according to the Jamaica Information Service. The families who have left are waiting for the same thing they wanted a year ago: an assurance that when the rain comes, the water will stay outside.
The real test for Estuary will not be the next press statement but the next heavy shower, and homeowners across Jamaica’s new schemes will be watching how the NHT and its developer answer it.
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