Hurricane Season 2026 in Jamaica: A Household Checklist One Year After Melissa

Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica in October 2025, and a year later the lesson Jamaicans keep repeating is simple: you only need one storm. The 2026 Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, so we are still inside it. The Meteorological Service of Jamaica forecast a below-normal season, but its own climate services manager warned against relaxing.

This guide pulls together what Jamaican agencies are saying right now and turns it into a practical household checklist you can finish in an afternoon, whether you live in Kingston, May Pen, Montego Bay or abroad and are looking after family back home.

What the forecast actually said

At a National Disaster Risk Management Council meeting on May 27, the Meteorological Service's climate services manager, Jacqueline Spence Hemmings, said there was a 55 per cent likelihood of below-normal activity in 2026. The expectation was eight to 14 named storms, three to six of them hurricanes and one to three major hurricanes. A developing El Niño was one of the main reasons for the lower outlook.

She was blunt about what that does not mean: "We don't say below normal to say get complacent. If Melissa has taught us anything, it is that we only need one." The same El Niño pattern can also bring drier, hotter conditions, so preparation is not only about wind and rain.

This year's theme: resilience starts at home

On October 13, Jamaica marked International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction under the global theme "Resilience Starts at Home." The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) is running a public education campaign that stresses three things:

• Building and regularly reviewing a household emergency plan.
• Taking practical steps to make your home safer and more resilient.
• Including children, older persons, persons with disabilities and anyone who may need extra help in that plan.

Officials also pointed to communities. After Melissa, residents needed neighbours with saws, machetes and shovels to clear debris, and the message was to build good relationships before a storm, not during one.

Your household checklist

The ODPEM campaign sets the framework. The items below are general preparedness practice we recommend adding to it.

1. Write the plan down

• Who lives in the house, who needs help (infants, elders, anyone on medication), and who will check on them.
• Where you will go if you must leave, and how you will get there.
• Two contact numbers outside your parish, plus one family member abroad who will relay news.

2. Protect documents and phones

• Put passports, TRN cards, land titles, insurance papers and medical records in a sealed waterproof bag.
• Photograph or scan them and email the copies to yourself and to a relative overseas.
• Charge phones and power banks before a watch is issued, not after the lights go.

3. Water, food and a no-cook pantry

Stock food that needs no refrigeration and little or no cooking: rice, flour, cornmeal, canned fish and meat, beans, oats, powdered or boxed milk, cooking oil, and ready-to-eat items for children. The U.S. Department of Agriculture lists rice, pasta, flour, sugar and canned goods as shelf-stable foods, best stored somewhere cool and dry, ideally below about 29°C (85°F).

Keep a manual can opener, a gas or charcoal cooking option used only outdoors, and enough drinking water for everyone for several days.

4. Plan for the fridge

If the power goes out, USDA food-safety guidance says a closed refrigerator keeps food safe for about four hours, a full freezer for roughly 48 hours and a half-full freezer for about 24. Keep doors shut, group frozen items together, and when in doubt, throw it out.

5. Clear your yard and drains

Municipal corporations and the National Works Agency began cleaning gullies and drains early this year because blocked waterways contributed to flooding during Melissa. Do your part: trim overhanging branches, clear gutters and move loose items inside.

6. Know where warnings come from

Jamaica's Meteorological Service is expanding its Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) warnings, which show map-based tropical storm alerts and flash-flood watches on the Met Service website and the Jamaica Weather app. Download the app now and follow ODPEM and the Met Service for official updates, not forwarded voice notes.

If your family is in Jamaica and you are overseas

Many of our readers are in the U.S., Canada or the U.K. and worry most about parents and grandparents at home. Three things help:

1. Do the plan by video call. Walk through the checklist together and write down the numbers.
2. Stock the pantry early. Stores empty out when a watch is announced. Shipping a barrel is slow; our guide to sending a barrel to Jamaica explains the customs steps. For groceries, Jamaica Online Shop delivers door to door in all parishes, so you can top up rice, flour, tinned goods and household supplies for a relative without anyone queueing. Order well before a storm, because delivery during an active hurricane cannot be guaranteed.
3. Agree a check-in time. A simple "message me at 8 p.m. even if it is just one word" removes a lot of fear.

After the storm

Never taste food to decide whether it is safe, avoid floodwater and downed lines, and photograph damage for insurance before you clean up. Check on neighbours, especially older ones living alone.

Bottom line

A below-normal forecast is good news, not a reason to skip the basics. An hour on your plan, documents and pantry now costs far less than scrambling later.

Sources

• Jamaica Information Service, "Meteorological Service Cautions Against Hurricane Complacency" (May 2026): https://jis.gov.jm/meteorological-service-cautions-against-hurricane-complacency/
• Jamaica Information Service, "International Disaster Risk Reduction Day to Focus on Resilience at Home" (October 2026): https://jis.gov.jm/international-disaster-risk-reduction-day-to-focus-on-resilience-at-home/
• Jamaica Information Service, "Communities Encouraged to Take Collective Action to Reduce Disaster Risks" (October 14, 2026): https://jis.gov.jm/communities-encouraged-to-take-collective-action-to-reduce-disaster-risks/
• Jamaica Information Service, "St. James Municipal Corporation Far Advanced in Its Preparation for Hurricane Season": https://jis.gov.jm/st-james-municipal-corporation-far-advanced-in-its-preparation-for-hurricane-season/
• World Meteorological Organization, "The Caribbean Puts Early Warning Systems to the Test" (MeteoWorld, October 2026): https://wmo.int/resources/meteoworld/meteoworld-october-2026/caribbean-puts-early-warning-systems-test
• USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, "Keep Your Food Safe During Emergencies": https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/emergencies/keep-your-food-safe-during-emergencies
• USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, "Shelf-Stable Food Safety": https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/shelf-stable-food

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