Hurricane Melissa, the strongest storm ever recorded in Jamaica, struck yesterday. The government declared the island a disaster area; emergency teams are assessing the devastation and racing against time to save lives. However, blocked roads, downed power lines and widespread flooding suggest that for many, help will arrive too late.

• The hurricane generated a storm surge of up to 13 feet and hit western Jamaica particularly hard.
• More than half a million people are without power. Many remain trapped in their homes awaiting rescue.
• Compounding the suffering of Jamaicans is a triple-digit heat index, caused by relentless humidity.

After leaving Jamaica devastated, the hurricane hit Cuba as a category-2 storm, causing river levels to rise, blocking roads, and cutting off electricity for 241 communities, home to over 140,000 people, the government says.

It will be days until we know the full extent of the devastation in Jamaica and throughout the Caribbean. But with hundreds of thousands affected, we cannot shy away from asking why.

Jesus Christ Himself answered this question, though most religious preachers ignore it. After highlighting the deaths of 18 people crushed under a falling tower, Jesus asked: “[T]hink ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:4-5).

This is not an answer people want to hear, but it comes from the Word of God. The people who died in the devastation yesterday, today and in days to come are not sinners above others. Their deaths are a warning to the whole world, which is steeped in sin (the breaking of God’s commandments), that to avoid a similar fate we must repent.

Christ’s answer shows the only way that we can prevent such disasters. It also points to the only hope.

Christ also said: “I am the resurrection, and the life” (John 11:25). While the millions who have died in disasters will be raised in a future resurrection (Revelation 20), their deaths are a warning to us today.

You won’t hear this message in today’s news media. You won’t even find it in the world’s religions. But you can study the depth of this truth in our free booklet Why ‘Natural’ Disasters?