Hurricane Melissa emergency relief

Hurricane Melissa: devastating category 5 storm has caused catastrophic damage across Jamaica

Last updated: 6 November 2025 

On 28 October, a category five hurricane made landfall in Jamaica.

Hurricane Melissa, the most powerful storm of 2025, is the strongest to have hit Jamaica in modern history. Millions of people have been affected and at least 61 people have been killed in Jamaica and across the region.

Hurricane Melissa made a catastrophic impact on Jamaica, bringing with it violent winds, flash flooding, and landslides.

Across Jamaica, much of the population remains without electricity, and reports suggest that around 30,000 people are displaced.

In Haiti and the Dominican Republic, heavy rainfall and flooding have caused fatalities and structural damage. Hurricane Melissa arrived in Cuba as a category 3 storm, causing extensive damage in Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Granma and Guantánamo. Around two million people require humanitarian assistance.  

The first priorities are search and rescue, and ensuring people have access to healthcare, safe shelter and clean water.

How to help people affected by Hurricane Melissa

The best and quickest way to help support those affected by Hurricane Melissa is to donate to our Disaster Fund today. In any emergency, every second counts and your donation to the Disaster Fund allows us to act fast to provide critical aid and relief.

We are raising funds for our Disaster Fund, which is currently prioritising support for Hurricane Melissa and has already helped fund the humanitarian response. We are working with colleagues on the ground in affected countries to determine what further support is required and how we can help via our Disaster Fund.

Donations to our Disaster Fund are used wherever and whenever they are needed most - this flexible approach allows us to prepare before a crisis hits, and to act quickly when disaster strikes. Your gift will help us support people affected by the hurricane, as well as other disasters across the world.  

Donate to the Disaster Fund now

How is the Red Cross supporting in Jamaica?

Jamaica Red Cross staff and volunteers, who come from the very communities they serve, have taken early, life-saving action to help support people. 

Before the hurricane hit, they had been proactively supporting communities by: 

• by mobilising 400 volunteers,
• pre-positioning emergency supplies,
• preparing shelters for people at risk, and
• distributed 750 blankets, 250 cleaning kits, 250 hygiene kills, 250 shelter tool kits, and 500 tarpaulins 

Now that the hurricane has hit, the Jamaica Red Cross is supporting families in 50 shelters across the country. They are working closely with government agencies to make sure aid reaches people in high-risk communities as soon as possible.

The situation is desperate. We’re already supporting the response to this emergency via our Disaster Fund, which enables our teams to act quickly in the immediate hours of a crisis. But we need your help – the more money we raise, the more people we can reach with vital support. 

Donate to the Disaster Fund now

How is the Red Cross supporting wider affected regions?

Local Red Cross teams in Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas have also been working around the clock to help communities facing this disaster:

• The Cuban Red Cross has been supporting with evacuations, offering psychosocial support, and helping families stay connected.
• Red Cross teams in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas have been supporting with evacuations, distributing relief items, and transporting patients from local hospitals to medical centres in safer areas.

This is a fast-moving situation. We’ll update this page throughout the coming days with more information from our team on what’s happening, how we’re responding and how your support will help people.