Fires remain a serious danger in Jamaica, destroying homes, businesses and livelihoods each year. In 2025, the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) responded to 11,048 genuine fire calls, many of which were linked to preventable causes. According to the JFB, many fires stem from preventable human actions, such as open burning and discarded cigarettes. The leading factor was careless use of...

For months, the Infant Department of Lethe Primary and Infant School in Hanover remained silent, its chairs caked in dried mud, books, equipment and damaged or destroyed, and floors buried under silt after the Great River overflowed its banks during Hurricane Melissa last October. Floodwaters rose nearly to the top of the building, leaving behind a thick layer of mud...

When Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica in October 2025, Project STAR (Social Transformation and Renewal) teams were actively implementing social and economic transformation initiatives across several under-resourced communities in the western region. Like many other non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Project STAR’s initiatives were disrupted by the large-scale devastation of the Category 5 hurricane. Yet, while other entities withdrew from the affected communities,...

While Sergeant Albert Simpson was on the front line in Black River during Hurricane Melissa, safeguarding lives and property, his parents were losing the roof of their house hundreds of kilometres away. The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) sub-officer in charge of traffic for St. Elizabeth, tells JIS News that he was stationed at the Black River Police Station, during and...

The Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD) has partnered with several international organisations to advance the rights and development of persons with disabilities, post Hurricane Melissa. To this end, Executive Director Dr. Christine Hendricks, tells JIS News that the JCPD is working with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to develop a framework for inclusive disaster...

More than 350 care packages and school supplies were distributed in three areas in St. Elizabeth on January 22, to assist with recovery efforts following the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa on October 28 last year. This was done through a partnership between the Coconut Industry Board (CIB) and Croydon Black Minority Ethnic (BME) Forum. Community members of Middle Quarters...

As Jamaica rebuilds in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, which devastated the western end of the island in October 2025, the Save our Boys and Girls Foundation has taken aim at reducing learning loss in severely affected communities, with the launch of a programme dubbed, ‘School in a Box’. The humanitarian assistance project, which is being delivered in collaboration with...

Munro College in St. Elizabeth has weathered many storms in its nearly 170-year history, but the last two years have tested the school like never before. After struggling to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Beryl in July 2024, the all-boys institution, nestled in the cool Santa Cruz Mountains, was once again battered by a category-five monster, Hurricane Melissa, on...