Six weeks after Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica and left behind an unprecedented trail of destruction, hundreds of people remain unable to return home, while many others are still without electricity.

Dennis Zulu, the United Nations resident coordinator for the country and several others Caribbean islands, said Wednesday that while “meaningful progress has been made” in the island’s recovery, the scale of destruction and cost of rebuilding mean the country cannot recover on its own.

“It’s important to be clear, the scale and cost of recovery are immense,” Zulu said. “Rebuilding homes, restoring infrastructure and vitalizing livelihoods and strengthening resilience will require substantial financial resources over an extended period.”

Speaking during a briefing at the U.N. headquarters in New York, Zulu stressed that Jamaica’s recovery cannot rely solely on national efforts.

“It will require the collective effort of bilateral, multilateral partners, international financial institutions, the private sector,” he said.

Current estimates place total damage in losses between $8 billion and $15 billion, equivalent to nearly a quarter of Jamaica’s GDP. The storm, with winds of 185 mph and torrential rains, killed 45 people and affected more than 626,000 others across six parishes.

As of this week, 90 emergency shelters remain open, housing 942 people who have not been able to return home. “The physical devastation has been extensive and nationwide,” Zulu said.

Among the most severe destruction: at least 120,000 buildings, primarily in southwestern Jamaica, lost their roofs, leaving entire communities exposed. The hurricane also caused prolonged disruptions to essential services, with parishes in western Jamaica still without electricity.

“We know that 631 water systems have been affected, and 27 remote communities were temporary cut off due to blocked roads,” Zulu said. “Transport routes, the telecommunication networks also collapsed across several parishes, and five major hospitals in the southwestern part sustained severe structural damage, placing additional strain on what is already a stressed health system, the educational system.”

Schools were not spared. More than 450 schools, two thirds of all nationwide, reported damages ranging from roof losses to full structural failure.

“This scale of destruction has not only been unprecedented, it has really reversed hard-won development gains in a country that was firmly on a positive social and economic trajectory,” said Zulu. “Tourism, agriculture, both cornerstones of Jamaica’s economic and major sources of employment, were among the sectors hardest hit.”

On Monday the country reopened its tourism sector, saying it had welcomed 300,000 post-storm visitors, and 71% of hotels will be reopened by the end of this month.

Government officials have touted their recovery as “remarkable.” It has progressed more quickly than in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, which in 2017 devastated several Caribbean islands, including Dominica and Puerto Rico.

“Jamaica was better placed and well positioned to deal with Hurricane Melissa,” Zulu said. He attributed that to “experiences and good practices learned from the different hurricanes and the tropical storms that affected Jamaica prior to Melissa.” Among them was Hurricane Beryl, which brushed by Jamaica last year and affected some of the same areas later devastated by Melissa.

The Jamaican government had been fine-tuning its response, he said, trying to get the economy back on its feet when Melissa made landfall.

With the lack of electricity and reconstruction of the county’s electric grid among the biggest challenges, Zulu said the U.N. system has been working the government, national institutions, civil society and international partners to mount a coordinated humanitarian response.

That includes restoring health services, supporting the education sector, assisting in the restoration of essential services and contributing to repair and construction of homes, roads and critical infrastructure.

Hurricane Melissa is now on record as the worst storm ever to strike Jamaica, with damages far exceeding those caused by Hurricane Gilbert, which made a direct Category 5 hit over eastern Jamaica in 1988. Gilbert was blamed for more than 40 deaths and caused widespread damages nationwide with sustained winds as high as 160 mph.

Melissa “has once again shown how climate related shocks can erase years of development progress in a matter of hours,” Zulu said. “As recovery advances, the United Nations will continue to advocate for stronger resilience, improved access to appropriate financing and recovery solutions that leave no one behind.”

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