Overview
- The $150 million parametric catastrophe bond is set to pay out in full following Melissa’s trigger, with CCRIF coverage and contingency funds providing additional rapid liquidity.
- Preliminary estimates put Jamaica’s losses near $7–8 billion, far exceeding the bond’s size and likely surpassing the country’s broader financial buffers.
- Western parishes including St. Elizabeth, Westmoreland, and Trelawney saw catastrophic impacts, with Black River reporting about 90 percent of structures destroyed and widespread damage to roads and buildings.
- Large areas remain without power, water, cell service, or passable roads, hampering assessments and driving concerns over dwindling food supplies.
- Rapid attribution studies indicate human-driven warming made a storm like Melissa roughly four times more likely with about 11 percent stronger winds and 16 percent more rainfall, intensifying calls for increased adaptation finance and U.S. support.