For thousands of Jamaicans, the warmth of Christmas will be more than a memory this year. Hurricane Melissa, now recorded as the most violent storm ever to strike the island, has left families facing not only structural ruin but emotional collapse. In lower Darliston, Westmoreland, Natasha Tomlinson stands on the bare concrete foundation where her four-bedroom board house once stood. Today, it is a graveyard of splintered lumber — nails pulled, boards stacked — a desperate preparation for help t

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness today disclosed that, based on projections, it could take up to six months to achieve full electricity restoration to all affected communities following Hurricane Melissa. Thousands of Jamaicans, particularly those in parishes severely impacted by the Category 5 storm, such as St Elizabeth, Westmoreland, Hanover, and St James, remain in the dark more than three weeks after the passage of Melissa. Read more: https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20251119/full-h