Hurricane Melissa Aftermath

As Jamaica enters another hurricane season with thousands still under damaged roofs, NaRRA’s heritage protection clause raises the question of what the rebuilt country will look like. The Singapore comparison, the bungalow question and the 1.8% donations figure all point to the same challenge: Jamaica must build something worthy of what the storm cost.

The auditor general has found that 98.2 per cent of the $1.44 billion in Hurricane Melissa donations remained unspent four months after the storm. Government and opposition offer sharply different explanations. For families still under damaged roofs, the debate is not academic.

When others were assessing losses, the founders of Level 8 bakery and lounge in Black River were planning expansion. Their decision to open a new business four months after Melissa, drawing more than 100 job applicants, is the kind of private sector confidence signal that the town’s recovery urgently needs more of.

Patience in planning Black River’s rebuild is warranted. But patience cannot mean silence on specifics, and the rebuilt town must carry the memory and the lessons of Melissa into its design, not just its structural specifications. A restored Black River should be worthy of what stood there before the storm, and honest about what the storm took.

Publication date: 5 January 2026 | Covering: December 2025 Monthly Briefing Bank of Jamaica holds policy rate at 5.75 per…

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Nearly two months after Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica with unprecedented force, the scale of the challenge facing the…

The Zong Monument survived Hurricane Melissa’s destruction of Black River. Its survival amid the rubble raises a deeper question about the town’s future: should the rebuilt Black River incorporate the memory of what was lost, and what that means for its long-term identity, tourism appeal and property value.

Five weeks after Melissa, Parottee remains a scene of devastation, and a major debate has opened over whether residents should rebuild in a community that disaster experts say is too vulnerable to sustain. The human cost of that question, and what it means for land rights, is becoming clearer.

Publication date: 5 December 2025 | Covering: November 2025 Monthly Briefing Bank of Jamaica holds rate at 5.75 per cent,…

In the weeks after Hurricane Melissa made landfall as the strongest storm in Jamaica’s history, an island of three million people faced destruction on a scale that would redefine its economic trajectory for years to come.

Hurricane Melissa destroyed in hours what had stood in Black River for over two centuries. The collapse of St John’s Anglican Church, the loss of Waterloo House and the erasure of Victorian-era commercial buildings have ended a heritage that Jamaica was still learning how to protect.

Publication date: 5 November 2025 | Covering: October 2025 Monthly Briefing Hurricane Melissa makes Category 5 landfall in Jamaica on…