Hurricane People
What does it take to build Jamaica's level of disaster protection, and is it enough as storms get stronger?
About This Episode
In October 2025, Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as the strongest storm ever to hit the island. Forty-five people were killed, thousands were left homeless, and the town of Black River was almost completely destroyed.
But Jamaica had spent years preparing. After a catastrophe bond failed to trigger during Hurricane Beryl the year before, critics asked whether Jamaica had bought the wrong insurance. This time, the bond paid out $150 million, and the country mobilised over $660 million in total.
What does it take to build that kind of protection — and is it enough as storms get stronger? In this episode of Counter Crisis, Jeevan Vasagar is joined by Keenan Falconer, Mikol Mortley and Ron Jackson.
Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Counter Crisis is brought to you by the Centre for Disaster Protection, which helps countries find better ways to manage disaster risk – protecting lives, livelihoods, and economies before crisis strikes.
Featuring
.jpeg)
More From Counter Crisis
Breaking the Cycle of Response and Recovery
Jeevan Vasagar and guests talk about how pre-arranged financing could finally break costly cycles of response and recovery.
The State of Pre-Arranged Financing
In this episode we ask what needs to change to ensure the most vulnerable communities receive the protection they need?
Between Flood and Drought
How does a country on the climate frontline build a future its young people want to be part of?
