As Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba brace for tropical storm, World Food Program preps response

Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald on Oct 23, 2025

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With slow-moving Tropical Storm Melissa expected to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane as soon as Saturday as it churns towards Jamaica and southwest Haiti, the United Nations said Friday it’s actively helping the Caribbean respond to any devastation.

U.N. World Food Program staff are assisting authorities in Haiti and Cuba and have hundreds of pre-positioned pallets at a regional hub in Barbados, in the eastern Caribbean, to help affected islands, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, said Thursday. The food agency also is in touch with the government of Jamaica.

On Thursday morning, Jamaica was put under a hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning, while the southern peninsula of Haiti was under a hurricane watch. Heavy rainfall is expected for both countries, with forecasters warning it could spawn life-threatening mudslides, flash floods and swells.

The Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, has already placed nine provinces under red alert. In Haiti, where up to 10 inches of rain are expected, the while country is under a vigilance warning, including the region that encompasses Port-au-Prince, where armed groups control much of the capital.

In Jamaica, the government made a special appeal to residents of Port Royal in the capital, who are usually reluctant to evacuate their homes despite their proximity to the sea.

Jamaicans are being warned to brace themselves for anywhere between 6 to 12 inches of rainfall and sustained winds of 50 mph.

“This increases the likelihood of power outages,” the head of the Jamaica Public Service, Hugh Grant, said in a video posted by the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper. “The lights are going to go out, so let us plan for the lights going out. With that being said, we are committed, we are positioned, we are resourced. And we stand ready to respond.”

Haq, the U.N. spokesman, said the food program is finalizing a supply agreement with the government of Jamaica “to provide 10,000 food kits, which are designed to feed a family of approximately three persons for 10 days with capacity to provide more as needed."

The program is also active in Cuba, Haq said. The food agency and the government have pre-positioned food that can cover approximately 275,000 people for 60 days should the island be affected.

Through the agency’s Caribbean regional logistics hub, there are currently more than 500 pallets of partner relief supplies as well as logistics assets stored in Barbados ready for air and sea deployment, he added.

The U.N. program’s outreach comes despite its ongoing financial woes.

For months, the agency has been warning that it lacks the resources to pre-position food in Haiti as it has done in previous natural disasters.

Earlier this month it released a report citing the country as one of six critical humanitarian operations facing challenges. Nearly half of Haiti’s estimated 12 million people are facing hunger, and most of the agency’s resources has gone to address the crisis, which worsens with every new gang attack.

Despite the challenges, the U.N., which last month directed $9 million in emergency funding to Haiti, said it is assisting the country with storm preparedness.

On Wednesday, the U.N. food program, working with the Haiti government’s Office of Civil Protection, sent out 3.5 million early-warning text messages to Haitians providing safety measures and guidance on how people can prepare.

Haq said the agency is also preparing to deliver anticipatory electronic money distributions totaling $900,000 to meet urgent humanitarian needs for about 45,000 people.

"These payments are supported by the U.N. central Emergency Response Fund and will help families prepare to weather the storm and protect livelihoods of the most vulnerable," he said.

There are currently more than 1.4 million internally displaced Haitians because of the gang violence. During a recent visit, shelter residents complained that even with a little bit of rainfall, they cannot sleep and are forced to stand until the rain subsides because of flooding inside the camps.

The situation often isn’t that much better for those living with host families. Many of them are currently in some of the regions under threat.

Carlos Ruiz Massieu, the head of the U.N. Integrated Office in Port-au-Prince, said the situation in Haiti is dire. Ruiz Massieu said the food agency is working on getting additional assets like helicopters from Colombia to pre-position, if need be, in Haiti to respond to a storm hit.

Choppers have become a critical asset in moving humanitarian aide workers and responding to crises in the country due to armed group’s control of all major roads connecting Port-au-Prince to the rest of the country.

“We hope it can avoid the hit on Melissa,” Ruiz Massieu said. “But still, they need to be prepared, and we are working with them.”