The mechanics matter here. Jamaica’s bond uses a parametric, per-occurrence design that references central pressure and storm location within a grid around the island, with AIR Worldwide acting as calculation agent using U.S. National Hurricane Center data. That architecture speeds up funding at the cost of basis-risk trade-offs. A year earlier, Hurricane Beryl struck Jamaica without triggering the bond, as pressure thresholds in the relevant grid cells were not breached—even as the government declared a disaster. Melissa, by contrast, cleared the hurdles decisively.