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‘Lots of people still don’t have roofs’: Jamaicans living in hardship after Hurricane Melissa

The Guardian · 🇬🇧 public United Kingdom · · 1376 words · By Natricia Duncan; Anthony Lugg; Chris Osuh
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What to know about ‘Lots of people still don’t have roofs’: Jamaicans living in hardship after Hurricane Melissa

“Before Hurricane Melissa I could have navigated life, figured things out.

Claims checked 13
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left12%
Center76%
Right12%

8 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

“Before Hurricane Melissa I could have navigated life, figured things out.

Why it matters

But since its passage, everything has just been turned upside down,” said Kerry-Ann Vickers.

Common ground

Vickers was three months pregnant when Hurricane Melissa demolished parts of her home in the coastal town of Black River, in St Elizabeth, west Jamaica, last October.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2026/mar/29/hurricane-melissa-aftermath-jamaica

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 13 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

help Insufficient Evidence 7
schedule Pending 3
verified Verified By Reference 2
cancel Disputed 1
help
Claim 1: “In January, 2.9 tonnes of aid left the UK for Jamaica, transported by British Airways for free.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search or Wikipedia to support the UK aid in January claim.
help
Claim 2: “The Green Climate Fund has dispatched around $19bn globally for climate mitigation and adaptation.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search or Wikipedia to support the Green Climate Fund's $19bn allocation claim.
help
Claim 3: “Kerry-Ann Vickers is still struggling to get support to rebuild her house and is distraught that her baby will arrive in a home without a secure roof.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search or Wikipedia to support or refute the claim about rebuilding support and pregnancy.
verified
Claim 4: “Kerry-Ann Vickers said Hurricane Melissa demolished parts of her home in the coastal town of Black River, in St Elizabeth, west Jamaica, last October.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
All Wikipedia sources are unrelated to Hurricane Melissa or Kerry-Ann Vickers. No independent corroboration found.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 76th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards honored the best in artistic and technical achievement in American prime time television programming from June 1, 2023, until May 31, 2024, as chosen by th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/76th_Primetime_Creative_Arts_E…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following are notable people who were either born, raised or have lived for a significant period of time in the U.S. state of Texas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_from_Texas
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This list of stage names lists names used by those in the entertainment industry, alphabetically by their stage name's surname followed by their birth name. Individuals who dropped their last name and…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stage_names
help
Claim 5: “Matthew Samuda stated that Jamaica has $10bn worth of losses and damage from Melissa.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search or Wikipedia to support Matthew Samuda's $10bn loss claim.
help
Claim 6: “To date, $8.25bn has been disbursed under the Restoration of Owner-Occupants Family Shelters (Roofs) programme.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search or Wikipedia to support the $8.25bn disbursement claim.
verified
Claim 7: “Kerry-Ann Vickers was three months pregnant when Hurricane Melissa demolished parts of her home.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia sources are unrelated to the claim about Kerry-Ann Vickers' pregnancy during Hurricane Melissa.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 76th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards honored the best in artistic and technical achievement in American prime time television programming from June 1, 2023, until May 31, 2024, as chosen by th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/76th_Primetime_Creative_Arts_E…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following are notable people who were either born, raised or have lived for a significant period of time in the U.S. state of Texas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_from_Texas
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — This list of stage names lists names used by those in the entertainment industry, alphabetically by their stage name's surname followed by their birth name. Individuals who dropped their last name and…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stage_names
schedule
Claim 8: “The diaspora is supporting British tradespeople to travel to Jamaica for rebuilding efforts.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
help
Claim 9: “The latest phase of the programme includes an additional $3bn in allocations and will result in 14,000 new beneficiaries.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search or Wikipedia to support the $3bn allocation and 14,000 beneficiaries claim.
cancel
Claim 10: “Initial assessments after Melissa showed that more than 150,000 homes were damaged or destroyed.”
DISPUTED
Wikipedia explicitly states Hurricane Melissa made landfall in late October 2025, contradicting the claim's October 2023 date.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season was an annual cycle of tropical cyclone formation in the Atlantic basin, featuring bursts of intense tropical cyclone development over warmer-than-normal waters betw…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Atlantic_hurricane_season
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Hurricane Melissa was an extremely powerful tropical cyclone which made a catastrophic landfall in Jamaica in late October 2025. By maximum sustained winds, it is tied with Hurricane Allen as the stro…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Melissa
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The island nation of Jamaica lies in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba and west of Hispaniola. It frequently experiences the effects of Atlantic tropical cyclones that track across the Caribbean, with …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jamaica_hurricanes
schedule
Claim 11: “Jamaica's deputy high commissioner noted the need for specific aid items like tarpaulins, generators, and tools.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 12: “The Global Jamaican Diaspora Council (GJDC) launched a national survey to document British Jamaicans' contributions.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
help
Claim 13: “The Loss and Damage Fund can provide a maximum of $20m to any one country.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it insufficient evidence based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.