Technology and Connection in Jamaica: Hurricane Melissa's Aftermath

In November 2025 I had the chance to help the NGO GiveDirectly design a rapid cash assistance program for people hit by Hurricane Mellisa in Jamaica (see my earlier post: High Performance Mindsets for the Storm: 9 Days of Hurricane Response in Jamaica). We used the mobile phone network to establish a unique pathway for quickly connecting with and helping storm affected people. Starlink Mini units provided fast internet connectivity, which enabled on-the-move navigation and real-time updates to targeting data within the disaster zone. This "web of connectivity" included phones, satellite internet, and financial technology like Western Union for the cash transfer. We successfully moved money from donors in the USA to recipients in Jamaica within days, highlighting fast cash as an essential tool for post-crisis recovery.

The head of GiveDirectly's humanitarian products  Leith Baker, and I arrived a few days after the storm in Kingston, and soon drove west into the impact zone.  Camille Raguin, and Julien Devos  soon joined us to augment the response. The 220 mile per hour winds had flattened any building made of wood frame and tin roofing. The storm toppled electric poles and knocked out most cell phone connectivity in the area. 

---

Jamaica is a middle income country. Its proximity to the stable and prosperous markets of the mainland Americas puts it in a good neighborhood compared to the places I’ve worked recently such as Madagascar. Its government is stable and a steady stream of remittances from Jamaicans working abroad combines with a thriving tourism, farming and shipping economy. 

This gives the local people who were hit by the storm a unique profile and challenge. Many of the people in the storm’s path had the means to flee the area before the storm made landfall. Some of those who stayed sheltered with no issues in concrete houses and hurricane proof roofs. But as in any society, wealth is not equally distributed and Jamaicans on the poor end of the spectrum didn’t have the money to evacuate, or the means to build a hurricane compatible house. Despite the poverty in some parts of society, in Jamaica, almost everyone has at least a basic mobile phone, and most devices are Android or Apple smartphones. This opened up a unique pathway to connect with people and help them quickly in the hurricane’s aftermath. 

The hurricane impact zone clearly needed help, and the government of Jamaica quickly welcomed aid from other countries into the impact zone. Electricity, communications and roads were damaged or destroyed. Thousands of houses were blown over or had their roofs evaporated. The wind was strong enough to blow every green tropical leaf off the trees as the storm passed. This gave an eerie feeling of winter despite the warm tropical temperatures. But not everyone in the zone requires assistance.  

This storm, like every disaster, affected people unequally. If you had money in the bank, a working vehicle and a house that survived the storm relatively intact, you could have moved before or after the storm to the unaffected parts of the island. You could have purchased or sparked up your generator to provide power and purchased a new StarLink Mini. ​

Internet Connectivity: The quiet revolution of Starlink in disaster zones around the world    
Our small Mitsubishi pickup truck splashed through deep puddles and bounced over rocks as we entered the primary school compound a few days after Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica. Local families milled about the schoolyard. Many were sleeping and resting and the school as the storm had destroyed their tin roofed homes. A white square Starlink Mini sat propped on a wooden chair in the grass. Its white square pointed hopefully skyward, while its power cord ended in a portable battery linked to a solar panel. A young woman explained that an international health NGO had arrived by chopper a few days ago and  given them the system but the battery had “gotten water inside” and was not holding a charge. We plugged their starlink into our pickup truck’s inverter and they were able to use their own starlink to register to receive the $650 one-time cash grant to help fix their homes and get post-storm life restarted. 

The Starlink on the ground was the same model that sat on the dashboard of our pickup truck. The small and lightweight self contained unit connects directly with the satellite delivering blazing fast internet speeds anywhere in the world. The unit costs $225 and it takes another $50 per month to access 100GB of streaming data. This makes the cost negligible for the revolutionary functionality it provides. 
​
It was mindblowing for me as an international aidworker to experience these speeds inside the disaster zone, while driving, with such a small unit. Contrast this with the $10,000 VSAT that we flew into our office in Wau, Sudan in 2006. We had to bring in a specialist to set up the massive rig. It was concreted into place and was fragile. This gave us precious web connectivity that was immovable and came at a massive cost. 

Cell connectivity was spotty or fully out of service in the storm’s impact zone. Having portable broad band installed in the truck made it possible to navigate and route find with live data on our phones. Our support team was working on collecting data and creating analysis from the data that would help us hone in on areas that the storm had hit hard, but would be safe to access and also be possible for the people to walk or purchase a ride to a functioning Western Union wire transfer office to receive our cash donation. We were able to update notes and feedback on these targeting sheets while on the move in the truck between communities in the impact zone. 

The speedy internet was a facilitator both in the impact zone and back at the hotel. When we returned to our lodging in the evenings, we could prop the StarLink in a chair in the courtyard and write up the day’s work, have video calls with team members and keep in touch with family members. 

Mobile Phones: Creating the two way flow
Just as the internet connectivity accelerated our work, most of the people that we were trying to register into the cash donation program had smartphones. This is not surprising given Jamaica’s middle income status and proximity to mainland America but it was a good reminder that most of the people that we are trying to help with international aid are using the same phones that we are. This is also happening in the more rural and remote places such as southern  Madagascar that I visited last year for a work project. 

The people providing funding to the NGO GiveDirectly found out about the storm on their devices, and sent their donation with their phone. We used our phones to target and navigate the storm’s impact zone. Those receiving the money register for our program on their ph ones, and later receive text messages telling them to pick the money up at a local Western Union office just outside the hurricane’s destructive path. 

Financial Technology: Transferring the money
Jamaica is relatively old school in its treatment and use of mobile money. Platforms like Venmo in the USA or MPesa in Kenya are standard ways of doing business. The systems are not trusted or used in Jamaica, so we had to transfer the money by Western Union. This is a financial services company specializing in remittance flows. They charge a fee to send and deliver money anywhere where a franchise office exists. The office must have a working internet connection, a phone connection and power to run a computer. This last link in the technology web allowed the money to flow within a few days from a donor’s phone in the USA, into paper money - cash in hand - that quickly bought roofing materials, tarps, and even helped start small businesses such as drink stands. 

Creating a Technology Web for Good
We were able to build a web of connectivity for good that moves money quickly from prosperous parts of the world, using technology (phones - satellite internet connectivity - local assessment & presence - financial transfer tech), into the hands of people hit by a powerful storm. 

The GiveDirectly organization is increasing the precisions of its targeting, increasing the number of StarLinks available after a storm, and accelerating the cash delivery time to get money into the hands of folks that most need it within a few days of a new storm. While the traditional humanitarian system that delivers food, shelter material and healthcare will remain essential, fast cash after a storm is an emerging and essential tool to save lives and reduce suffering after new crises hit. Follow this evolving story at GiveDriectly.org. 

Happy Trails