Storm-weary St Bess faces Melissa still reeling from Beryl
Published:Sunday | October 26, 2025 | 12:12 AMAlbert Ferguson - Sunday Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
More than a year after Hurricane Beryl ravaged Jamaica’s southern corridor, the residents of St Elizabeth remain locked in a prolonged struggle for recovery. Now, with Tropical Storm Melissa churning ominously offshore, these same communities brace once again for nature’s wrath, clinging to faith, memory, and the hope that this time will be different.
In the coastal fishing district of Parottee, 57-year-old fisherman Castell Wright was busy getting his household in order last Friday.
“The preparation mi do for the storm now, mi buy likkle food put in a mi house and mi tie it down,” Wright explained, as he secured a tarpaulin atop his house, anchoring it to building blocks in a bid to preserve his zinc roof.
“Mi nuh decide to leave. No storm that comes, we have not left,” he told The Sunday Gleaner last Friday. “When the structure (wooden house) blew down, we went into a concrete building, and then my niece put me up afterwards.”
Despite the proximity to the sea, Wright asserts a paradoxical sense of safety.
“Although we live by the sea, it’s much safer than a whole heap of people who don’t live against the sea,” he said. “You see if that one is full – the lake – we can use the drain and drain it out back into the sea. The sea cannot be full. That’s what happens all the while. When that one is full, we go down there to bust the drain and send it to the sea.”
After Hurricane Beryl obliterated his home and fishing gear, Wright undertook the arduous task of rebuilding with minimal assistance.
“Seven months after the storm, they (Ministry of Labour and Social Security) gave me $150,000. That’s all the assistance I got,” he said. “I built back my structure on my own. The boat and engine were never damaged, but all my fish traps were gone, and I bought wire and built back my fish pots.”
Now, with Hurricane Melissa threatening the island, Wright fears the deluge more than the wind.
“To me, Hurricane Beryl was much more breezy,” he reflected. “This one, based on my experience, it’s going to be mostly water. It is walking very slow, so it’s going to linger – that can make it more dangerous.”
Runece Wright, another member of the Wright family, lost both her home and poultry business during Beryl and remains in a state of stagnation.
“I am not making any preparations, because I haven’t recovered from Beryl as yet,” the mother of two told The Sunday Gleaner. “As you can see, the same situation that you see us in after the passage of Beryl, that’s the same thing you come and see right now. We haven’t recovered from Beryl, so there is no preparation for this hurricane that’s threatening here.”
Her voice, laden with fatigue, carried a quiet but unwavering faith.
“People came here, a lot of them, but hopeful promises,” she said, referencing social workers from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and other government agencies. “I have to trust God and pray, because no matter how we speak out, we still do not get help.”
Despite the sobering realities, The Sunday Gleaner observed a spectrum of responses across the Breadbasket Parish, which was hardest hit by Beryl in July 2024.
At Calabash Bay Beach, fishermen had hauled their boats ashore. All vessels were accounted for since last Tuesday, save for those whose owners reside on Pedro Cay. Meanwhile, others attended pop-up parties, and some took precautionary measures – fortifying homes with sandbags, reinforcing structures with concrete blocks, and stockpiling food, water, and other essentials.
$4.7 billion in agricultural losses
Hurricane Beryl left a trail of destruction in its wake: roofs torn from homes, power lines felled, and entire fields of crops flattened. The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) reported 257 utility poles downed across St Elizabeth. The Ministry of Agriculture later estimated $4.7 billion in agricultural losses, nationally with the parish among the hardest hit. Tomato, pepper, melon, and plantain farms – the economic backbone of the region were decimated.
By March this year, the Government reported that over $1.5 billion in direct assistance had been disbursed to families affected by Hurricane Beryl. At a presentation ceremony in Newell, St Elizabeth, on March 19, Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles Jr distributed cheques under the Rebuild Jamaica initiative to more than 100 hurricane victims. The cheques – valued at $50,000, $150,000, and $400,000 – were allocated based on needs assessments conducted by social workers.
At the time, Charles stated that thousands of households in St Elizabeth had received critical support, with many already rebuilding their homes and livelihoods.
Speaking with The Sunday Gleaner in Santa Cruz, Richard Solomon, mayor of Black River, acknowledged that while relief efforts had reached numerous communities, the scale of need remained daunting.
“That is a bit unfortunate. The honest truth is, we collaborated with our humanitarian arm, which conducted assessments and reached out to affected areas such as Parottee,” Solomon said. “I’m sure persons there would have benefited, but given the demand and the magnitude, I can’t say every single person would have gotten support. But I’m sure that help was given.”
He issued a stark warning to residents in flood-prone areas as Melissa approached.
“When it comes down to life and property, I have to ask them to be responsible,” he urged. “It’s going to be difficult for us to do any sort of rescue if persons get marooned in that area. I am personally appealing to them to do the necessaries from now. If they know they have to evacuate, please do so, because based on the indications, we could be hit hard.”