Recovery efforts from public and private organizations are already underway.
Recovery efforts began in Jamaica on Oct. 28, shortly after Hurricane Melissa dealt the island nation its worst landfall event since recordkeeping started.
Pictures, videos, and official statements have made it through communication blackouts since the afternoon of Oct. 28, revealing glimpses of devastation, the extent of which is still unknown to Jamaican officials.
A state minister in the Jamaican prime minister’s office told a local radio station on Oct. 29 that one fatality during Melissa was confirmed after a tree fell on an infant, bringing the island’s death toll to four.
It followed three deaths in Jamaica reported before the hurricane made landfall.
However, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness issued a statement declaring that as of 1:20 p.m. ET on Oct. 29, “there have been no confirmed reports of death.”
Still, the hurricane’s death toll will likely continue to climb as Jean Bertran Subreme, mayor of Petit-Goave along Haiti’s southern coast, reported on Oct. 29 that 25 people died due to flooding from the La Digue river.
Others remain trapped under rubble from collapsed homes.
Jamaican officials also said that the disaster coordinator for Jamaica’s West Moreland parish remains in the hospital after suffering a stroke on Oct. 28 while preparing for the storm.
Hurricane Melissa made landfall near New Hope, in St. Elizabeth Parish, with sustained winds of 185 mph and a near record-low central pressure of 892 millibars.
That was lower than Hurricane Milton was at its strongest point in 2024.
Storm surge of up to 13 feet and rainfall totals nearing 27 inches were reported along the southern coast.
Santa Cruz, a town in that parish, suffered a massive landslide due to widespread flooding that turned streets into mud pits, blocked main roads, and poured water into people’s homes.
“The entire hillside came down last night,” Robert James said.
St. Elizabeth Technical High School, a designated public shelter, lost part of its roof to the storm’s winds.
Desmond McKenzie, deputy chairman of Jamaica’s Disaster Risk Management Council, said on Oct. 28 that St. Elizabeth was “underwater” and had extensive damage.
By T.J. Muscaro
