Jamaica PM says hurricane Melissa caused damage equivalent to nearly one-third of GDP | Hurricane Melissa
Jamaica’s prime minister, Andrew Holness, said last week that Hurricane Melissa, the strongest storm ever to hit the country’s coast, caused damage to homes and basic infrastructure equivalent to about 28% to 32% of last year’s gross domestic product.
Holness told the Caribbean nation’s lower house that the $6 billion to $7 billion estimate was conservative based on damages assessed so far and that short-term economic output could fall by 8% to 13%.
The Prime Minister warned that the costs would increase Jamaica’s debt-to-GDP ratio and that his government would invoke emergency provisions to temporarily suspend the country’s fiscal rules. Holness, whose government has set out loan and insurance provisions for a storm similar to last year’s Hurricane Beryl, said he was seeking financial support from regional allies, development agencies and the private sector.
“Experts describe Melissa as being at the very edge of what is physically possible in the Atlantic Ocean, a storm powered by record sea temperatures,” he said. “Its power was so great that seismographs hundreds of kilometers away recorded its passage.”
“Hurricane Melissa wasn’t just a tragedy: It was a warning.”
Melissa slammed into Jamaica’s agricultural regions already battered by last year’s Hurricane Beryl, and lawmakers said it could raise food prices. It also ripped apart parts of the country’s key tourism corridor.
Lawmakers also said thousands of tourism workers are unemployed.
Scientists say storms are intensifying faster as a result of greenhouse gas emissions that warm ocean surfaces, accumulating fuel for seasonal storms. Caribbean leaders have long sought compensation in the form of aid or debt relief from wealthy countries that pollute heavily.
Holness has promised to rebuild infrastructure to withstand the worsening effects of climate change, including the underground moving parts of the power grid. It also waived import duties for some aid products such as solar panels and Starlink kits.
“Every repaired bridge, re-roofed house and rebuilt road should be designed for tomorrow’s storms, not yesterday’s storms,” he said.
On Tuesday, Melissa’s confirmed death toll rose to 75, while Haiti’s official toll rose to 43, with 13 more people missing, adding to 32 confirmed deaths in Jamaica.
Haiti was not directly affected, but was shaken by days of rain that flooded rivers.
25 people, including 10 children, died in a town in Haiti. Approximately 12,000 homes were flooded, roads became impassable and communities were cut off from access to drinking water. Both countries expect the number to rise as more bodies are found.
Holness said more than 30 Jamaican communities were cut off from communications due to damage to roads and bridges. He said response efforts were hampered by a shortage of helicopters, social workers, doctors and engineers, underscoring the need to plan carefully ahead for future storms.
Cuban authorities evacuated hundreds of thousands of people last week as Melissa made landfall near its second-largest city, Santiago. They reported no deaths but extensive damage to homes, crops and infrastructure.
Experts at US forecaster AccuWeather estimate damage in the Caribbean to be between $48 billion and $52 billion.
