aggiehawg said:

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Ryan just said Jamaican officials are warning about "displaced crocodiles" in the flood water!

I never knew there were crocs in Jamaica?

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I learned this when I was there this past summer. They do have American Crocodiles on the south side of the island in St Thomas through the Westmoreland areas.

ETA... Apparently they are seen on the regular in Black River

aggiehawg said:

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Terrifying.

Happening - Listen the crying winds in St. Elizabeth #Jamaica #Hurricane #HurricaneMelissa pic.twitter.com/WglJmjyizy

— ROUTz Jamaica (@routzjamaica) October 28, 2025

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Holy mother of god. That actually sounds like someone screaming.

A roof was completely torn off a building at a section of the Savanna La Mar Public General Hospital due to the passage of Hurricane Melissa. The system made landfall earlier today near New Hope district in Westmoreland, Jamaica. #GLNRToday #TrackingMelissa pic.twitter.com/zBnm9bu4Oq

— Jamaica Gleaner (@JamaicaGleaner) October 28, 2025

Tens of thousands of people will lose their lives during this.

Praying hard for Jamaica.

aggiehawg said:

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RGV AG said:

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Lotta folks don't know that Jamaica has some fairly high mountains and ridges on it. When a storm like this happens upon mountains what we saw happen in NC and TN with the storm will occur. Especially in parts of Jamaica that have been cleared. It is probably going to be really, really bad with that running water. God help those folks.

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I have been up in the mountains outside Ocho Rios. The people who live up there have ramshackle shacks with dirt floors for the most part. Those places and anyone in them will be wiped out. They also don't have power so getting the word out to evacuate would not reach them.

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Yes ma'am, you are right. I spent some time outside of Kingston in Portland Parish and it is plenty hilly, and back then there was a lot of deforestation, even in the national park. Like you said, people living all over the place. It will be real bad all over that island and probably some of the worst won't ever be seen.

aggiehawg said:

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Quote:

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Not to mention that the government and the resources in the Caymans are light years ahead of what they have in Jamaica. Jamaica doesn't have an international banking industry to rely on to bankroll the recovery.

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True. I loved the Caymans and looked into maybe moving there at one point. Talk about a strict immigration system! Hard as hell to get to stay there back then.

But their jewelry stores were very reasonably priced.

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Their government benefits for residents are pretty sweet, so they work really hard to make sure that only people who are a net positive to the economy are allowed to get full citizenship. The folks they give residency and work permits to are kept on a pretty tight leash to make sure they leave the country periodically (every 10 years I believe?) before they are able to satisfy the requirements to apply for citizenship. I still have dreams about winning the lottery and buying a lot on the Bloody Bay Wall in Little Cayman to build a retirement house. But I would have to win the lottery to do it because the cost to buy residency and build the house would be exorbitant otherwise. The land is relatively cheap. It is everything else that costs a fortune.

LMCane said:

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sam callahan said:

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Jamaica had a fighting chance of being a decent country, but their war on the wealthy drove out investment in the 70s.

It's a shame people can't learn the mistakes of socialism and class warfare.

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Since this is a politics board and not a Weather board we should spend more time discussing the politics here.

why are many of the Carribean countries flush with tourist cash, from millions of tourists.

with the best weather in the world and beautiful beaches that millionaires from all over the world would want to live there...

but they are some of the poorest and most backwards nations in the world.

the ENTIRE population of Jamaica is less than just a part of Dallas metro!!

and yet they can't educate a few hundred thousand kids- with millions of dollars from the resorts pouring in.

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The resorts are largely owned by interests outside the country, as are most of the jewelry stores, knickknack shops, and kitschy bars next to the cruise ship piers. The money from all that tourism mostly comes in the door and goes immediately to a bank in some other country, with the Caribbean countries largely seeing very little of it besides the wages to locals who work at the resorts. In the Caymans, most of the resort labor is Jamaicans or ex-pats from other commonwealth nations. There are more higher paying jobs in the financial industry there so the locals prefer to go that direction. The rest of the Caribbean largely doesn't have those high paying jobs available, so their best and brightest leave the country to live and work elsewhere, leaving the rest to squabble over what little they can make from the tourism industry. The competition for the visitors is pretty fierce, so they are loath to charge too much in the way of visitor taxes or pier fees lest the ships and tourists decide to go elsewhere.

Hurricane Melissa tears through western Jamaica, ripping roofs from homes, flooding streets, and toppling trees as powerful winds hammer the region. pic.twitter.com/9Pkz04rAeT

— AccuWeather (@accuweather) October 28, 2025

Quote:

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Yes ma'am, you are right. I spent some time outside of Kingston in Portland Parish and it is plenty hilly, and back then there was a lot of deforestation, even in the national park. Like you said, people living all over the place. It will be real bad all over that island and probably some of the worst won't ever be seen.

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My first trip was in 1981. We had this kid, Lloyd who was our tour guide around. After several days, he wanted to show us where he lived and meet the rest of his family. So we (perhaps stupidly) followed this kid up a mountain on a foot trail. We would pass some lean-tos filled with empty booze bottles and an old man who started yelling that white people weren't allowed up there. Lloyd just flipped him the bird and kept going.

We get to his Mom's shack, and it was a shack, she was very inviting showed us her place and all of her fruit and avocado trees and her chickens and goats. They were quite proud of them. No electricity no running water
but Lloyd fetched water for her every morning from a stream about quarter mile away.

We took Lloyd's address, actually his uncle's since he lived in town, and when we got back to the states, sent a care package with shoes and clothing back to Lloyd and a dress for his mother. Exchanged letters with him for about a year after. Good kid.

TheCurl84 said:

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We fixed the keg said:

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Raiderjay said:

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Just heard reported that Whitehouse, Jamaica where landfall occurred, they will be in the Eye for over 2 hours......

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Good lord.... have to pray.

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Isn't "being in the eye" a good thing?

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Temporarily, but the eye wall is very strong/dangerous. 2+ hours in the eye would suggest a very large or very slow moving storm

Prayers for better times coming back to Jamaica when it is "all eyrie, mon" again.


Those are whistling tree fogs, BTW. We have always oceanfront suites so that sound of the gentle surf and those night noises just lulled you to sleep, if the amount of booze consumed didn't do it.

Following since we were leaving for a trip there later today. Prayers for all.

How many people died?

Pacifico said:

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How many people died?

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They won't know the death toll for a while.

tamc93 said:

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Following since we were leaving for a trip there later today. Prayers for all.

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You think you're flying to Jamaica today? Or are you taking a boat? 'Cause you aren't flying to Jamaica.

94chem said:

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tamc93 said:

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Following since we were leaving for a trip there later today. Prayers for all.

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You think you're flying to Jamaica today? Or are you taking a boat? 'Cause you aren't flying to Jamaica.

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He said were, not are.

txags92 said:

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94chem said:

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tamc93 said:

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Following since we were leaving for a trip there later today. Prayers for all.

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You think you're flying to Jamaica today? Or are you taking a boat? 'Cause you aren't flying to Jamaica.

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He said were, not are.

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Gotcha.

I found these from someone that was stuck there during the storm. Looks like most of the actual buildings have some roof damage but building appear to just have a ****load of debris.

That said most homes may not be built for that. The newer ones tend to use concrete masonry that should stand up to the winds but I'm sure not designed for that strong.


https://instagr.am/p/DQVo9axjpCq

https://instagr.am/p/DQWlW4lkfg9

https://instagr.am/p/DQZh7ZyEd-u

I'm gonna guess most of the locals aren't living in houses like that.

Does anyone know how Half Moon in Montego Bay fared?

SanAntonio said:

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Does anyone know how Half Moon in Montego Bay fared?

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Only thing I found on X

Hurricane Melissa 2025 Damages - Hospiten Hospital, Half Moon, Montego Bay, Jamaica #hurricanemelissa #dojonews pic.twitter.com/OmzzGTzMKJ

— dojo news (@dojonewsnetwork) October 29, 2025

Thanks! Was there earlier this year.

SanAntonio said:

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Thanks! Was there earlier this year.

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I have been in Ocho Rios four times. Montego Bay four. Runaway Bay once. Kingston once (flight snafu),Negril twice (not Hedonism although we were there for few hours and it was trash..)

Rick's at Negril, too. Took the Princess Grace yacht cruise. That Captain was hysterical! Guy was barefoot for the entire cruise.

Good to see we're lending a helping hand to our devastated neighbor.

TASK FORCE

It seems like the death count was way lower than many thought although I haven't seen a tally in a few days. It was 20+ last time I saw which was remarkably low.

That's good news!

The real bad winds missed the major cities. Kingston made it through without a whole lot of damage. The jog to the west over the last few days before landfall saved a lot of lives.