At least 75 people were confirmed dead across the Caribbean, including 43 in Haiti and 32 in Jamaica
Jamaican prime minister Andrew Holness has said last week’s Hurricane Melissa, the strongest-ever storm to hit the country’s shores, caused damage to homes and key infrastructure equivalent to roughly 28% to 32% of last year’s gross domestic product.
Holness told the Caribbean nation’s lower house the $6bn to $7bn estimate was conservative, based on damages assessed so far, and short-term economic output could decline by 8% to 13%.
The prime minister warned that costs would push up Jamaica’s debt-to-GDP ratio and that his government would activate emergency provisions to temporarily suspend the country’s fiscal rules. Holness, whose government set out credit and insurance provisions for a storm similar to last year’s Hurricane Beryl, said he was seeking financial support from regional allies, development agencies and the private sector.
“Experts describe Melissa to be on the very edge of what is physically possible in the Atlantic Ocean, a storm powered by record sea temperatures,” he said. “Its force was so immense that seismographs hundreds of miles away registered its passage.”
