There is a particular stillness that follows a storm in Jamaica.
It’s not silence exactly. It’s the sound of people sweeping, hammering, checking on neighbours, lifting zinc sheets back into place, boiling water, charging phones off car batteries. It’s the quiet recalibration of a country that has learned, again, that nature always has the final word.
In the wake of Hurricane Melissa, conversations about property feel different. They have to. This is not the moment for glib talk about resale value or quick cosmetic wins. Many families are still repairing, still drying out walls, still finding their footing. And yet, as with all rebuilding moments, there is also reflection. Not just on what was lost, but on what endured.
And that, perhaps, is where the real discussion about value begins.
In Jamaica, a home is not judged solely by how it looks on a bright afternoon viewing. It is judged by how it behaves at three in the morning when the rain is horizontal and the wind is testing every decis…
