Hurricane Melissa

Week of Compassion partners respond in the Caribbean

Week of Compassion continues to monitor the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, a Category 5 storm—among the most powerful ever recorded in the Caribbean. After battering Jamaica and Haiti, the hurricane brought catastrophic winds, flooding, and storm surge to Cuba before moving north into the Atlantic.

According to the Cuban Meteorology Institute and the US National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Melissa reached sustained winds of 174 mph. The Cuban government activated its national early warning system and carried out mass evacuations of nearly 900,000 people, prioritizing vulnerable coastal and mountain communities. 

Through our ACT Alliance network and Global Ministries Caribbean ecumenical partners, Week of Compassion has received updates on widespread humanitarian needs and emerging response plans:

• In Haiti, partners are reporting severe flooding, missing persons, and loss of life—including at least 23 deaths (10 of them children).  Agricultural land and infrastructure have been devastated, and families connected to our Global Ministries partner, House of Hope, are sheltering in temporary centers, many of which have flooded. In addition, our partner CONASPEH is assessing urgent needs for shelter, food, and protection for displaced families. 
  
  
  
• In Cuba, The Centro Memorial Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has reported damage in several communities and to its own work sites. They are prioritizing essential household needs and preparing a rapid response report. Other partners, including the Seminario Evangelico de Telogia de Matanzas and the Cuban Council of Churches, are coordinating efforts and assessing the hardest-hit areas in the island’s eastern regions.
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• In Jamaica, the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands reports that while some areas suffered serious flooding and infrastructure damage, many communities were spared the worst. Their Synodical Response Team is now assessing the damage and identifying where external assistance will be most critical.
  

From Havana, Rev. Dr. Joel Ortega Dopico, President of the Cuban Council of Churches, shared this message of faith and courage: 

“We are just hours away from millions of Cubans sharing, along with our brothers and sisters in the Caribbean, the onslaught of the powerful Hurricane Melissa with all its destructive force. Our churches and faith-based institutions are prepared and ready to serve our people, with all the capabilities at our disposal… We stand firm and pray, knowing that God is always with us and will provide for all those who will lose their material possessions and who will also be psychologically and spiritually affected.  We ask for your prayers during this time, as we find ourselves in the boat in the midst of the storm, certain that God will always give us the necessary calm.”

Week of Compassion stands in solidarity and prayer with our partners across the Caribbean—in Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica, and beyond—as they assess needs and bring hope amid destruction.  Through our ecumenical partnerships, Week of Compassion is responding with emergency shelter, food, clean water, psychological care, and early recovery support.  

As communities across the Caribbean face the devastating impact of Hurricane Melissa, your support makes a difference. Your gifts to Week of Compassion, designated for “International Emergency Response”, provide life-saving support for partners responding right now in Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica, and beyond—offering emergency food, clean water, shelter, and pastoral care to families who have lost so much. Thank you for your prayers, generosity, and partnership.  Together, we bring hope in the midst of crisis.