Caribbean Matters is a weekly series from Daily Kos. Hope you’ll join us here every Saturday. If you are unfamiliar with the region, check out Caribbean Matters: Getting to know the countries of the Caribbean.
It was roughly two weeks ago that Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica, wreaked massive destruction, then moved slowly onward to devastate parts of Haiti and Cuba.
It trended on news and social media sites in the U.S. for a few days but is no longer doing so, given that the focus has been on the depredations of the orange occupant of the White House, the Epstein files, the U.S government shutdown, food insecurity, and election wins by Democrats.
This is not to say that people here with Jamaican or Caribbean roots/ancestry, including some of our elected officials, have been silent and doing nothing. I posted a “reminder” in our community series Black Kos on Nov. 4 in “Black Kos: Keep Melissa recovery in the headlines“ and feel it necessary to do so here today:
x
Hurricane Melissa: Relief efforts intensify as damage across Caribbean grows
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…
[image or embed]
— capitalgrowthlab.bsky.social (@capitalgrowthlab.bsky.social) November 13, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Hurricane Melissa: Relief efforts intensify as damage across Caribbean grows
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 Haiti, where Hurricane Melissa claimed more than 40 lives, humanitarian partners are expanding operations amid extensive damage across multiple departments.
Take a look at some recent video reports on conditions:
Jamaica’s Guardian News Reports: “Jamaican farmers warn of food shortages after destruction of Hurricane Melissa.”
In case you weren’t aware or were wondering, the United States says it has sent Melissa recovery funds. According to the Department of State, “the United States has provided nearly $37 million to date in emergency, life-saving assistance and on-the-ground support throughout the region in response to Hurricane Melissa.”
In my opinion, it’s a drop in the bucket compared with the proposed $40 billion bailout for Argentina. Other countries respond:
Communities across the U.S. are doing what they can:
Austin, Texas:
South Florida:
New England:
COP30, the United Nations’s climate change conference, is currently taking place in Brazil, and Melissa discussions are part of the overall dialogue on climate change.
Clár Ní Chonghaile writes:
Jamaica and small islands warn COP30 that 1.5 target is “lifeline”
BELEM, Brazil – As COP30 climate talks kicked off in Brazil’s port city of Belém on Monday, opening speeches in the Amazonas hall were heavy on ambition, but just down the corridor there was a stark reminder of what failure looks like.
“Hurricane Melissa slammed into Jamaica a week-and-a-half ago and every single Jamaican now knows the word catastrophic,” said UnaMay Gordon, a former director of climate change for the Jamaican government and adviser to the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre, which coordinates climate action.
“We lost cultural heritage, 300-year-old churches are lost. A part of our identity was lost with it. People are hurting,” Gordon told reporters.
The strongest ever storm to hit Jamaica left dozens dead and caused billions of dollars worth of damage, roughly equivalent to 28% to 32% of last year’s gross domestic product, according to the island’s prime minister.
Janine Mendes-Franco writes:
We are not waiting for permission to survive’: A Jamaican perspective on COP30 after Hurricane Melissa
For island nations like Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, The Bahamas and Bermuda, all affected by the storm, the trauma is not simply in the moments of waiting for the storm to arrive, not knowing what it will bring. It is not even a matter of riding it out in uncertainty. The lingering damage sets in after the tempest has passed, and you take in the extent of the loss: people killed, homes destroyed, livelihoods reduced to nothing.
According to Theresa Rodriguez-Moodie, CEO of the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), Jamaica was “reeling” from the intensity of the hurricane, telling Al Jazeera in a television interview, “These storms are becoming the norm, unfortunately, and it is fuelled by the climate crisis.”
When asked how she felt about the organisers of COP30 saying they have no plans to unveil any new measures at the conference in Belém, Rodriguez-Moodie replied, “What we need now is radical change. We need commitments. We need adaptation financing. We need Loss and Damage money […] now is not the time to pause.”
Matt Simon, a senior writer at Grist who covers climate solutions, wrote:
No doubt about it: Climate change made Hurricane Melissa way worse
Last month, forecasters watched with dread as Hurricane Melissa lumbered across the Atlantic Ocean, morphed into a monster, and took aim at the islands of the Caribbean. As predicted by the National Hurricane Center, landfall was catastrophic: While officials are still tallying the costs, both in lives lost and property destroyed, at least 67 people were killed across Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. AccuWeather estimates $50 billion in damages.
Even before the storm walloped Jamaica and continued its slog north, scientists explained just how climate change helped turn the hurricane into an exceptional Category 5 storm with 185-mph winds: The warm waters it used as fuel were made up to 900 times more likely by global warming, helping bump up those wind speeds by 10 mph
Dr Glen Barry has written an important piece, posted to The Conversation, that takes a critical look at what is needed for the future:
No time to recover: Hurricane Melissa and the Caribbean’s compounding disaster trap as the storms keep coming
The compounding disaster trap
I study disasters, with a focus on how Caribbean island systems absorb, adapt to and recover from recurring shocks, like the nations hit by Melissa are now experiencing.
It’s not just that hurricanes are more frequent; it’s that the time between major storms is now shorter than the time required for a full recovery. This pulls islands into a trap that works through three self-reinforcing loops:
As could be expected, World Central Kitchen is in place, feeding people. Frankly, I think they should have received a Nobel Peace Prize for their work around the globe.
x
WCK’s Hurricane Melissa response expands to Cuba. Working with Friends of Cáritas Cuba & Cáritas Cuba, we’re distributing food kits with enough ingredients for 25 meals. WCK teams are also supplying kitchen equipment to households that lost appliances needed to cook. #ChefsForCuba
[image or embed]
— World Central Kitchen (@wck.org) November 10, 2025 at 10:30 AM
I realize that many readers here in the U.S. are currently facing severe financial distress and may not have the resources to contribute funds to recovery efforts. However, if you are reading this, you have internet access and can post or repost updates and information from sources that are reporting and/or engaged in the long, hard road to recovery.
I’ve gathered some news stories and updates here and hope you will take a look at the comments section below, where I’m posting more, and I hope you will post any about relief efforts you are aware of in your area.
