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Britain's King Charles III waves as he leaves after attending the Easter Matins Service at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, England, March 31, 2024. - AP photo
December 9, 2025

King Charles ‘profoundly saddened’ by devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa to Jamaica

Jamaica’s King, Charles III, says he is profoundly saddened to see the catastrophic damage caused by Hurricane Melissa in the country and across the Caribbean. In a message on Wednesday, he said he…
A damaged section of the Falmouth Hospital in Falmouth, Trewlany following the passage of Hurricane Melissa.
December 9, 2025

Non-essential gov’t offices reopen following Melissa, no loss of vacation days for employees unable to report to work

Non-essential public sector employees who cannot report to work due to being impacted by Hurricane Melissa will not lose vacation days for their absence. All non-essential government offices were…
Downed concrete poles in Lacovia, St Elizabeth.
December 9, 2025

Flash flood watch discontinued

The Met office has discontinued the flash flood watch for low-lying and flood-prone areas for all parishes. The agency says the significant feature is a Trough across Jamaica, which was induced by…
Letters
December 9, 2025

Increased criminality is a result of missing fathers

THE EDITOR, Madam: The Caribbean has been repeatedly rocked by incidents of mass killing without progress by society in dealing with the root causes. No government reviews, budget allocations or…
Residents walk through Lacovia Tombstone, Jamaica, in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa.
December 9, 2025

Kristen Gyles | We survived the unsurvivable

One foreign news reporter described the hurricane as being ‘unsurvivable’. But here we are, almost three million strong, having survived one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record. No, not…
JLP office on Belmont Road, Kingston.
December 9, 2025

Peter Espeut | Hoping for a good breeze-blow

I monitored Melissa on-line as she passed well to the south of Kingston on Sunday night, and rejoiced that the capital was spared the worst. And then she didn’t turn north when expected, and I hoped…
Seven Mile Beach in Negril
December 9, 2025

Standing with Jamaica in this hour of crisis

THE EDITOR, Madam: Many years ago I spent ten days with my young daughters in Negril, a town in the Hanover and Westmoreland Parishes at the western extremity of Jamaica. The people were welcoming…
People walk through Santa Cruz, Jamaica, after Hurricane Melissa passed.
December 9, 2025

Letter of the Day | Breadfruit and hope after the storm

THE EDITOR, Madam: In the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, our beloved Jamaica mourns. The wind’s roar has subsided, but in its silence, the cries of families who have lost their homes, livelihoods,…
Denise 'Macka' Sinclair, of Bottom Halse Hall in Clarendon, says  Hurricane Melissa caused the sinkhole behind her house to rise to window level so she had to run out due of fear.
December 9, 2025 by Karen Madden

Melissa revisits trauma on Halse Hall family

Haunted by memories of their matriarch who they lost during flood rains in 2021, a family in Bottom Halse Hall, Clarendon was forced to flee their home as flood waters from a nearby pond, swollen by…