Jamaica Faces the Hardest Part of a Hurricane: Recovery

On Oct. 28, 2025 Hurricane Melissa— one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record —slammed into the west coast of Jamaica. It brought 185 mph peak winds , destroying 90% of homes in the Black River area and leaving at least 50 dead —a count that will surely rise as search and rescue continues.

We don’t yet know what the recovery process will look like, but we can safely say that Jamaica will need outside help. From 1961 onwards, the United States addressed international disasters through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The Trump Administration’s decision to dismantle USAID has thrown the U.S.’s disaster response capability into confusion. Although the State Department has announced the mobilization of emergency teams to Jamaica , there is muc