Jamaica rebuilds months after Hurricane Melissa, Rabbi reflects on recovery

Hurricane Melissa ravaged Jamaica in late October 2025, and the island’s recovery is still unfinished months later. What remains visible now is not only storm damage, but the gap between the places that have moved ahead and the communities still waiting for rebuilding to catch up.

Rabbi Yaakov Raskin of Chabad of Jamaica has become an unexpected witness to that slow return to normalcy. From his vantage point, the recovery is more than a construction project. It is a test of whether families, neighborhoods, and local institutions can regain the stability that was stripped away when the storm hit.

The rebuilding effort has continued across Jamaica, but progress has not been even. Months after the hurricane, recovery still depends on the pace at which homes, community spaces, and basic services can be restored. That unevenness leaves some people moving back into daily life while others remain in limbo, waiting for the work around them to be finished.

Raskin’s reflections point to a larger public health and social equity problem that often follows major disasters: recovery is rarely distributed equally. The people and communities with the fewest resources usually wait longest for help, and the longer that wait lasts, the harder it becomes to restore normal routines, community support, and a sense of security.

In Jamaica, the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa still defines that reality. The storm struck in late October 2025, and months later the island is still rebuilding, still measuring what has been repaired and what has not. Through Raskin’s perspective, the story of recovery is not a finished one. It is a reminder that after the headlines fade, the harder work of restoration begins, and for many communities, it is still underway.