Hurricane Melissa Leaves Millions in Need Across Jamaica

A woman looks at the damage to her home in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, after a tree fell on it.

More than 1.5 million people in Jamaica have been affected by the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa, with many losing their homes and livelihoods.

More than 130 roads were blocked, power and communication networks disrupted, and health services remain under heavy strain, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

“Up to 360,000 people may require food assistance,” the World Food Programme (WFP) warned. Access to some western parishes continues to be difficult due to debris and fuel shortages, OCHA said.

WFP has been “working around the clock” to develop joint plans and strategies with the Government, said Brian Bogart, Country Director of the WFP Multi-Country Caribbean Office, speaking to journalists in New York via video link.

Jamaican Resilience

“The Jamaican people are resilient,” Mr Bogart said, “but they need urgent support to maintain that resilience.”

He emphasised that the most urgent needs remain food, water, shelter and medicine for the hardest-hit communities.

Over the past two days, both a French and a Dutch navy vessel carrying relief items have docked in Kingston’s harbour.

In the coming days, WFP plans to assist up to 200,000 people across the country through food assistance and cash transfers, which will be critical as Jamaica moves from immediate disaster response to longer-term recovery.

Cuba and Haiti Also Hit

Food distribution in Cuba has already reached 180,000 people in protection centres across the provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo, according to WFP Country Director Etienne Labande.

He said WFP’s presence on the ground is “critical” to enabling rapid and coordinated assistance.

Meanwhile in Haiti, at least 30 people have died due to extreme weather linked to Melissa, authorities confirmed. An estimated 1.25 million people have been affected.

Relief efforts in Haiti are being further complicated by the ongoing humanitarian crisis and a security vacuum, with armed groups controlling most of Port-au-Prince.

“Recovery is a marathon, not a sprint,” Mr Labande stressed.

Despite severe funding shortages, access difficulties and logistical challenges, the UN and partners are assessing damage and scaling up assistance.

Urgent Funding Needed

A total of $74 million is urgently required to deliver life-saving support to up to 1.1 million people across the Caribbean and to coordinate emergency logistics and telecommunications in the wake of Hurricane Melissa.