Sociology of Disaster Recovery

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Two Black women face away, looking at a flattened house and debris, beside fallen trees

On 28 October 2025, Hurricane Melissa devastated 90% of homes in the Black River area in Jamaica, with at least 50 people dead. This is classified as a Category 5 hurricane, the strongest tropical cyclones and highest intensity on the Saffir-Simpson scale. In a recent article, Assistant Professor Wesley Cheek explains why a sociological understanding of emergency planning is necessary for the recovery process.

Six million people across the Caribbean have been affected by Hurricane Melissa. The United Nations reports that, ‘Haiti, Cuba and Jamaica all suffered extensive damage and loss of life as a result of Hurricane Melissa.’

Satellite view of Hurricane Melissa, showing a massive cloud swirl over a rough sea

Writing in Time magazine, Professor Cheek explains that disasters in the Caribbean often have higher fatality rates than other emergency sites.

For example, the 2011 Tลhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which led to the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant (known as the 3.11 Triple Disaster) reached 9.0 on the Richter scale. It resulted in nearly 20,000 deaths, mostly due to the tsunami, rather than the earthquake.

The 2010 Haiti Earthquake was large but less powerful at 7.0 on the Richter scale, however, it led to 11 times the deaths, atย around 222,000 people.

Satellite image of Hurricane Melissa shows fast moving winds sweeping over the sea and land

Professor Cheek explains that the disparate outcomes are due to sociological, rather than environmental reasons:

“Vulnerabilities can be split into two basic types: physical and social. Physical vulnerabilities can be things such as low-lying land, landside-prone hills, or dry forests where wildfires are likely. Social vulnerabilities consist of things like income inequality, gender discrimination, and racial segregation […]

“What can explain a less powerful earthquake resulting in many more deaths? This is where social vulnerability comes into play. Poverty, inequality, building standards, access to materials, capacity of the civil society, and legacies of colonialism can lead to more deaths. It is not that the physical environment doesnโ€™t play a role, it is that the terrain that makes a substantial difference is a socioeconomic one.”ย 

  • Black people walk into the distance, with fallen trees and telephone poles cluttering the road
    Residents walk through Lacovia Tombstone Jamaica in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa
  • A white car behind many other cars drives through flood waters as a Black man watches
    Vehicles maneuver yesterday on a flooded road in St. Elizabeth Jamaica
  • A young Black man carries a girl on his shoulders through the rain, while other children stand in the background
    Residents brave floodwaters in Haiti
  • Three young men wade through muddy waters reaching their mid-calves in the rain
    Residents brave floodwaters in Haiti
  • A ruined couch stands in the middle of debris, with broken wood and furniture in the background
    Destroyed building in Black River
  • A young Black woman stands in front of broken wood and a fallen house
    Davia Banton stands in front of a destroyed building in Black River
  • A Black woman looks to the side with broken wood and shattered houses in the background
    Pamella Foster stands amid debris in Black River
  • A Black man sits in the centre of fallen electricity poles with wood and rubble surrounding him
    Downed electrical poles block a street in Black River Jamaica
  • Destroyed houses in a large, now-cleared, field, with a large hotel in the centre missing its roof
    Destroyed buildings in Black River Jamaica
  • Aerial view of a ruined hotel without a roof is the only building left near the coast, with threes and houses broken around it
    Destroyed buildings in Black River
  • Aerial view of the steel frame of a building fallen to the ground, surrounded by shattered buildings
    Destroyed buildings in Black River
  • Aerial view of shattered buildings near the coast
    Aerial views reveal extent of destruction in Black River Jamaica
  • A white car is shattered in the background, with fallen trees and electricity poles further back
    Car is surrounded by debris in Black River Jamaica

Professor Cheek argues that understanding social vulnerabilities is the key to reducing future casualties in Jamaica, as the country shifts from emergency response to recovery and future planning. This sociological understanding is central to the ‘Build Back Better’ approach to post-disaster reconstruction, which includes ‘a mitigation of social vulnerabilities through the recovery process.’

‘To rebuild from a disaster offers a chance to reconsider both the physical and social arrangements of a society. As Jamaica shifts from emergency response to recovery, change should come from the bottom up, be community-based and community-driven.’

Read more on Time.

How to help

Donate to crisis relief via the Jamaican Association of Australia or United Nations.

Credits

Top header original image via the UN.

Slideshow images via NBC.

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