NIC Systems Prepared for Hurricane Season

The National Irrigation Commission (NIC) has implemented measures to ensure its systems across the island are fully prepared for any potential weather events during the 2026 Atlantic Hurricane Season.

Director of Engineering and Technical Services, Rohan Stewart, told a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) ‘Think Tank’ on Wednesday (July 1) that the Commission’s strategy includes regular assessments and proactive system upgrades.

“We prepare… so that when the event, whether it be drought or a [severe] weather system, comes we will be in a position to address that. The NIC spends a lot of our effort on preventative maintenance… we don’t wait until it is broken before we fix it. We try to do the fixing ahead of it becoming broken,” he stated.

The Director further noted that the Commission’s maintenance programme involves assessing its water production, conveyance, and delivery systems on a fortnightly, monthly, and quarterly basis.

The NIC has also applied lessons learned from Hurricanes Beryl (2024) and Melissa (2025) to bolster its preparedness and enhance response capacity.

“As it relates to the infrastructure… the hurricanes tested our system, and [with] what we learned from Hurricane Beryl, we [did] some improvements, and then it was stress tested on Hurricane Melissa,” Mr. Stewart stated.

He highlighted the loss of electricity following Hurricane Beryl as a major challenge, noting that this issue was addressed to improve system resilience during Hurricane Melissa.

“The Government has invested in the NIC to the tune of up to $108 million to procure generators and variable frequency drives to be able to supply water during disruptions. So, we were able to supply water during Hurricane Melissa and, since then, we have also procured additional generators to be able to bolster our systems,” Mr. Stewart informed.

Solar retrofitting is a key focus to ensure NIC stations remain operational during public electricity disruptions.

“Since the last hurricane, we have installed 150 kilowatts of solar systems in the Duff House irrigation district,” Mr. Stewart noted.

He added that the Commission is undertaking approximately 700 metres of canal rehabilitation and 1,400 metres of pipeline replacement to support faster recovery following weather events.

Mr. Stewart further highlighted the NIC’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its emergency response and business continuity systems.

“Our staff, which is key in all of this, is very important. The business continuity is to ensure that our staff knows exactly what they’re to do [and] when they’re to do it. We are ensuring that they are up to speed, so that the farmers who will benefit at the end will see that in real time,” he said.

The NIC Director reaffirmed that improvements implemented have strengthened the Commission’s physical infrastructure, enabling it to better withstand severe weather events.

“If there should be another event like [Hurricane Melissa], we would be in a much better place than we were before. The systems that we construct are very resilient [and] they are made to withstand Category Five hurricanes, so [that] the physical infrastructure for the most part, is not significantly impacted,” Mr. Stewart declared.