SLEEPING WITH ONE EYE OPEN
Herman Jackson lives in Westgreen and remains traumatized a year after Hurricane Melissa hit Montego Bay. He cannot sleep peacefully when it rains. He now keeps water boots ready and monitors weather updates on his phone. He recalls floodwaters swallowing his community on October 28, 2025.
WESTERN BUREAU: At 62, Herman Jackson no longer goes to bed expecting a peaceful night’s sleep. When rain begins falling in Westgreen, he reaches for his water boots, checks the weather on his phone, and prepares to run. One year after Hurricane Melissa devastated sections of Montego Bay, St James, Jackson remains gripped by fear, his nights haunted by memories of the floodwaters that swallowed his community on October 28, 2025. “I can’t afford to go and sleep,” he told The Gleaner. “I’m very, very scared.”