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Heavy rainfall in Jamaica (15-19/05/2017): event preliminary briefing

In mid-May2017, the Meteorological Service of Jamaica indicated that a trough west of Jamaica would be influencing weather conditions across the island. Satellite imagery and radar reports projected light, moderate and intense rains in sections of all parishes, especially in the south. Therefore, flash floods were possible in low-lying and flood prone areas such as St. Mary, Portland, St. Thomas, Kingston, St. Andrew, St. Catherine, Clarendon, Manchester, St. Elizabeth and Westmoreland.

An event report was generated by RED – Risk Engineering + Design, part of the CCRIF Risk Management Specialist Team, assessing the event and corresponding damages, for Jamaica:

• This report describes the results of the Caribbean Rainfall Model on CCRIF member country JHamaica. The Caribbean Rainfall Model indicated that a Covered Area Rainfall Event (CARE) was generated in Jamaica, starting on 28 September and ending on 15 May 2017. As a consequence of the heavy rainfall, the Rainfall Index Loss (RIL) calculated for this CARE was below the Attachment Point of the country’s Excess Rainfall policy. Therefore the policy was not triggered, and no payout is due.