Hurricane Melissa

Overview

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on October 28, 2025, as the strongest hurricane to ever strike the island, with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph. The Category 5 storm caused catastrophic destruction across Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba, killing at least 88 people across the region. In Jamaica, entire communities were flattened, critical infrastructure was destroyed, and hundreds of thousands were left without power, clean water, or shelter. The storm's extreme winds and storm surge devastated coastal areas while torrential rainfall triggered deadly landslides and flooding in mountainous interior regions. Haiti and the Dominican Republic, still recovering from previous disasters, suffered additional widespread damage. The CDP activated its disaster recovery fund, and international humanitarian organizations mounted a massive multi-country relief operation. GEM's Caribbean team, based in Kingston, led large-scale operations distributing millions of pounds of critical supplies including food, water, shelter materials, and hygiene kits. World Central Kitchen deployed chef teams to provide hot meals to displaced families across the affected islands.