Jamaica: Macro-socio-economic assessment of the damage done by flood rains and landslides May 2002

This assessment was prepared for the Government of Jamaica following the significant
damages to social and economic infrastructure and productive sectors as a result of a period of
sustained and unusual rainfall associated with the convergence of a tropical wave over Jamaica and
an area of high pressure to the north of the island resulting in periods of heavy and sustained
rainfall over the period May 22 – June 2, 2002.
A request for technical assistance was directed to the Economic Commission for Latin
America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean, on May 31, by
the Planning Institute of Jamaica. In view of the recent training provided by the ECLAC Caribbean
team in the use of the ECLAC methodology to a multi-disciplinary group of 58 persons spanning
several sectors, it was felt that this event, while most unfortunate, nonetheless provided an
opportune moment for the Jamaican “trainees” to utilize the skills transferred and to apply the
methodology which had been taught. Consequently, ECLAC fielded a team of five persons a few
days after the request had been made , to give the Jamaican counterpart team the opportunity to
collect data of the type and using an approach well suited to the preparation of assessments such as
this.