When Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica last October, the immediate challenge facing emergency responders was not only the destruction left behind by the category five storm. It was the absence of reliable information.

Homes were damaged, roads were blocked, power lines were down and communications networks were disrupted. In the chaotic aftermath, authorities struggled to understand where the worst damage had occurred and which communities needed help first.

Without accurate, up-to-date data, disaster response becomes slower and less effective. Aid can arrive late, resources may be distributed unevenly and some communities risk being overlooked entirely.

But in the weeks following the storm, a coordinated mapping effort led by humanitarian organizations and local drone operators helped fill this critical information gap. At the center of that effort were DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise drones, providing high-resolution aerial data that reshaped the response strategy.

The project was organized by the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) through its Latin America and Caribbean Hub, working in collaboration with Jamaica Flying Labs and local drone pilots.

Together they deployed a layered mapping approach combining community reporting, satellite imagery and drone data collection.

Three Layers of Disaster Mapping

The first layer focused on information coming directly from affected communities.

Using an open-source platform called ChatMap, residents were able to send messages, images and voice notes through WhatsApp describing flooding, landslides, damaged homes and blocked roads.

Even with widespread power outages, more than 2,000 people joined the reporting groups in the days after the storm.

These reports were then verified and geolocated by the Humanitarian Mapping Brigade before being added to digital maps used by emergency responders. The resulting data was integrated into ESRI systems used by the Jamaican government, helping guide damage assessments and assistance programmes.

While community reporting provided valuable local insights, it was only part of the picture.

The second layer relied on satellite imagery. Through HOT’s Tasking Manager platform, 247 volunteer mappers from around the world helped identify damaged buildings and infrastructure across Jamaica and neighboring Cuba.

To accelerate the process, damage classification was simplified. Volunteers only needed to determine whether a structure was damaged or not, allowing large areas to be mapped quickly.

But satellite imagery has limitations.

Cloud cover often obscures views after storms, and even high-resolution satellites cannot always provide the detailed perspective needed to assess damage at street level.

That is where the third layer became essential.

The Role of Drones

Drone mapping, led by Jamaica Flying Labs, provided the most detailed data of the entire operation.

Using DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise drones, trained local pilots conducted systematic aerial surveys in priority areas identified by authorities.

Drone imagery can be up to ten times more detailed than satellite imagery, revealing damaged roofs, blocked roads, collapsed structures and landslides that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Over the course of the activation:

• 300 drone flights were conducted
• 900 square kilometres were mapped
• 75 grid blocks were surveyed
• Six parishes and 320 communities were covered
• Three terabytes of aerial data were processed
• More than 300 flight hours were logged

This high-resolution imagery allowed responders to pinpoint damage with far greater accuracy.

Valrie Grant, Founder of Jamaica Flying Labs, emphasized that the project relied heavily on local knowledge.

“Within our communities, we know where the damage is,” she explained. “Using a bottom-up approach helps us target the places where the data is needed most.”

Beyond the Emergency

While the immediate emergency phase has now ended, the data collected during the drone missions continues to play a critical role in recovery planning.

HOT and its partners are currently consolidating and validating datasets so they can be used by government agencies and humanitarian organizations in the long term.

One initiative under discussion is the development of a dedicated ChatMap platform for Jamaica, which would allow authorities to track household recovery progress and monitor rebuilding efforts.

The experience from Hurricane Melissa highlights an important shift in disaster response across the Caribbean.

Drone technology, once associated mainly with photography or military use, is now becoming a key tool for humanitarian mapping and crisis management.

When combined with open data platforms, community participation and global volunteer networks, drones can provide the detailed situational awareness needed to guide faster and more effective responses.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise drones helped transform scattered reports into actionable intelligence, proving that aerial data is rapidly becoming a cornerstone of modern disaster response.

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