Twenty persons still in Hanover shelters as new hurricane season looms

Western Bureau:

With some 20 persons still being housed in the four shelters that are still open in Hanover, there are now concerns over whether they will be properly settled ahead of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, which is looming on the horizon. 

Speaking at Thursday’s monthly meeting of the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC), Lucea Mayor Sheridan Samuels said the corporation was continuing to advance its shelter recovery programme with a view of re-settling the shelterees, who were displaced by Hurricane Melissa last October.

“The corporation has formally requested 15 container houses to assist these displaced individuals who are currently residing in shelters, and are awaiting the necessary support,” Samuels stated. “To date, suitable lands have been identified, and the bill of quantities already completed for 10 of the requested housing solutions.” 

According to Samuels, efforts are ongoing to identify additional suitable lands to construct bases to facilitate the placement of container homes for the remaining five persons who are not catered for in the requested allocation. 

In addition to the shelterees, Samuels also stated that there are several registered poor and vulnerable persons who lost their homes during the passing of the hurricane, who have been receiving assistance from the HMC through its Poor Relief Department.

 In seeking to advance the HMC’s resettlement plans, Samuels is making a special appeal for assistance from individuals, relatives of the displaced persons, landowners and other stakeholders to consider making lands available for the process as a humanitarian gesture.

Samuels further argued that disaster preparedness and recovery must be treated as a national priority and not merely sidelined as a local authority responsibility.

“I therefore challenge every government agency, utility provider, emergency responder, private sector partner, community leader, councillor and every resident of Hanover, to take the upcoming hurricane season seriously,” he said.

According to Samuels, several painful and necessary lessons should have been learned from the passing of Hurricane Melissa. He called for those lessons to be honoured, not by merely discussing them, but by acting on them with urgency, seriousness, coordination and commitment.

“Let us therefore move forward together with renewed determination to protect lives, strengthen resilience, and ensure that Hanover, and all Jamaica, is better prepared for whatever this hurricane season may bring,” he said.

Samuels also noted that, with just weeks to go before the start of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, there are still designated disaster shelters in the parish of Hanover  that need some amount of attention before they can be utilised in the future.

“Comprehensive inspections have now been completed for all 55 designated emergency shelters; of these, 41 have been assessed as safe and suitable for immediate use in the event of an emergency,” he said. “However, 12 shelters require varying levels of repair and rehabilitation if they are to remain operational, while the other two have been severely compromised and will need to be completely replaced.”

He said the HMC is actively seeking additional facilities that may be suitable for use as emergency shelters during an emergency, especially in the vulnerable communities in the parish.

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