Flood-hit MoBay gets $56m for early-warning tech

WESTERN BUREAU:

Montego Bay has secured US$350,000 (J$56 million) in international funding to install flood-detection and early-warning technology, a timely intervention for the western city where sections were again inundated by heavy rains up to Saturday night.

The funding, awarded through the Mayors Migration Council’s Global Cities Fund for Migrants and Refugees (GCF), will finance wireless sensors to detect rising floodwaters and provide earlier warnings to residents in vulnerable communities.

Montego Bay is one of only 10 cities worldwide selected for the 2026 funding round, from nearly 50 submissions.

The announcement comes as flooding continues to pose a recurring challenge for Jamaica’s Second City, where intense rainfall can quickly overwhelm sections of the drainage network, leaving roads, businesses and communities under water.

Montego Bay Mayor Richard Vernon said the technology would give residents more time to respond when water levels begin rising, particularly in communities where people are already vulnerable to displacement.

“In Montego Bay, we are seeing how climate change can shape where people live and whether they can stay safely. Many families who moved after drought and extreme weather disrupted their livelihoods are now living in communities exposed to flooding,” Vernon said.

“With support from the Global Cities Fund for Migrants and Refugees and the Mayors Migration Council, we will use early-warning technology to give residents more time to prepare and protect their homes and livelihoods.

“Our goal is simple: reduce the risk of repeated displacement and help make migration a choice rather than a necessity,” he added.

The Montego Bay initiative is part of a wider programme addressing the growing relationship between climate change, migration and displacement.

The Mayors Migration Council said people displaced after drought and extreme weather disrupt their livelihoods can sometimes relocate to communities that expose them to other climate-related hazards.

Montego Bay was selected alongside Curitiba and São Paulo in Brazil; Dadaab, Kenya; London, United Kingdom; Lviv, Ukraine; Maipú, Chile; Montevideo, Uruguay; Nouakchott, Mauritania; and Toronto, Canada.

Collectively, the cities will receive more than US$3.5 million for projects addressing economic opportunity, climate resilience and sport for inclusion.

The announcement was made on Sunday at the 2026 Urban 20 Mayors Summit in New York City.

Vittoria Zanuso, executive director of the Mayors Migration Council, said cities are increasingly on the front line of migration and displacement but often struggle to access international financing directly.

“Cities that include migrants and refugees are stronger, safer, and more prepared for the future,” she said.

With its 2026 cohort, the Global Cities Fund has supported 44 city-led initiatives across more than 30 countries and mobilised more than US$35 million.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com