By: Caitlin Wilson
In late October 2025, Hurricane Melissa devastated the Caribbean, causing billions of dollars in damage and affecting multiple countries as strong winds and powerful rains moved through. Throughout the Caribbean, damage from Hurricane Melissa is estimated to be between $48 billion and $52 billion. Jamaica was arguably hit the hardest, with Hurricane Melissa striking the country as a Category 5 storm—the most powerful to ever make landfall in Jamaica.
In Hurricane Melissa’s wake, significant damage was reported in Jamaica: 45 people were killed and 15 others are still missing, buildings affected were near-total losses, and an estimate of the economic damage ranges from $2.2 billion and $4.2 billion. With roofs in Jamaica mostly built “with minimal to almost no professional input,” any homes that survived Hurricane Melissa’s destruction remain vulnerable to future storms. And owing to Jamaica’s location in the Caribbean and the threat of intensifying storms and hurricanes globally, the need for more resilient properties is more important than ever. After the storm, Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, highlighted the need to account for stronger storms in any effort to rebuild, describing plans to fortify Jamaica’s infrastructure to protect the island from future storms.
Jamaica now faces the difficult task of not only rebuilding what was lost, but also designing new structure to withstand storms as powerful as Hurricane Melissa (or worse). With the Prime Minister’s goal of rebuilding “for the storms of tomorrow, not the storms of yesterday,” it is critical that Jamaica recover from Hurricane Melissa as a stronger, more prepared, and resilient nation to ensure such devastation never happen again. The United States has committed $11 million to hurricane relief in Jamaica, nonprofit organizations have rushed to assist, and even celebrities like The Weeknd have pledged to help, but millions more will likely be required. Significant investment by private donors, nonprofits, and other governments will be necessary to improve the quality of Jamaica’s infrastructure to meet the Prime Minister’s goals of protecting the country from future storms, and in the long run, will result in reduced loss of life and less economic damage after future storms pass.
