Hurricane Melissa: Relief efforts intensify as damage across Caribbean grows

This article is published in association with United Nations.

Two weeks after Hurricane Melissa tore through the Caribbean, governments and aid agencies are still struggling to reach communities left without homes, healthcare and basic services, as damage assessments in Cuba, Jamaica and Haiti continue to rise, the UN said on Tuesday.

In Cuba, more than 54,000 people remain displaced, including 7,500 staying in official shelters, according to the UN relief coordination office, OCHA. The scale of damage is now significantly higher than initial estimates, with more than 600 health facilities and 90,000 homes affected.

UN agencies are supporting the national response, having assisted about 140,000 people in shelters and community kitchens, and distributing agricultural tools and livestock feed to restore livelihoods.

They are also supplying equipment to bolster disease control and prevention efforts and delivering medical supplies to reinforce reproductive health services, including maternal care.

In Jamaica, access to isolated communities is improving but remains precarious.

Only two communities are still unreachable – down from 27 last week – though additional rainfall could limit access once again.

Shelter remains a critical concern. Some 40,000 tarpaulins earmarked for delivery have not been transported due to blocked and damaged roads. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has so far assisted 9,000 people in hard-hit Westmoreland and St. Elizabeth, with plans to extend cash assistance to up to 90,000 households as conditions allow.

In Haiti, where Hurricane Melissa claimed more than 40 lives, humanitarian partners are expanding operations amid extensive damage across multiple departments.

The UN and partners have also distributed hygiene kits and restored electricity for vaccine refrigeration and providing psychosocial support in schools.

They are also delivering 15-day food rations to hard-hit areas in the south. In Petit Goâve, food assistance is being provided to more than 40,000 people, with further distributions planned this week.

To overcome access challenges, the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) has expanded operations with five new access points to reach isolated communities.

Philippines: Response scales up after back-to-back typhoons

In the Philippines, the WFP is scaling up emergency operations following back-to-back Typhoon Kalmaegi and Super Typhoon Fung-Wong, which have affected 8.3 million people and displaced over 1.4 million across Luzon – the country’s largest and most populous island.

Ahead of landfall, the agency delivered emergency cash transfers to more than 210,000 people to help families evacuate and prepare.

Since the storms, WFP has provided 187,000 family food packs, enough to sustain nearly one million people for several days.

Telecommunications units and generators have also been deployed to restore connectivity, while logistics teams support relief efforts across 14 provinces.

UN News interviewed Arnaud Peral, the UN Resident Coordinator in the country, on Tuesday who highlighted the relative success of Government-led preparedness and early warning systems – fully supported by UN agencies.