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UN PhotoUN / WFP HURRICANE MELISSA
STORY: UN / WFP HURRICANE MELISSA
TRT: 03:44
SOURCE: UNIFEED / WFP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 04 NOVEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY / 31 OCTOBER – 02 NOVEMBER, JAMAICA / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior UN Headquarters
04 NOVEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, press room dais
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Brian Bogart, Country Director, Multi-Country Caribbean Office, World Food Programme (WFP):
“Many people across Jamaica have lost their homes, they've lost their livelihoods, and they're still in shock. One week after landfall, the Jamaican people are resilient. They tell us they are. We see that they are. But they need urgent support to maintain that resilience. The most urgent needs are, as usual in these kinds of circumstances, food, water, shelter, and medicine.”
4. Wide shot, press room dais
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Brian Bogart, Country Director, Multi-Country Caribbean Office, World Food Programme (WFP):
“WFP has managed to airlift 2000 food kits from a regional logistics hub that we have established for the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Management Agency in Barbados to Kingston, and we continue to airlift additional supplies while we're sending up a commodity pipeline of assistance from markets here in Jamaica and working with national authorities to coordinate delivery of that assistance to people in need by air and by road.”
6. Wide shot, press room dais
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Brian Bogart, Country Director, Multi-Country Caribbean Office, World Food Programme (WFP):
“It is our commitment to meet the most urgent needs of the people in Jamaica and to support long term recovery efforts to ensure that the people of this country remain food secure.”
8. Wide shot, press room dais
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Etienne Labande, Country Director, Cuba, World Food Programme (WFP):
“Anticipatory actions is now demonstrated not only saved lives, they also optimise resources and reinforce the resilience of Cuba's emergency response system. The ongoing response is an outcome of preparedness work alongside the Cuban government. Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated ahead of the shock to protection centres, and WFP and the government prepositioned food supplies to support 275,000 people for up to 60 days.”
10. Wide shot, press room dais
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Etienne Labande, Country Director, Cuba, World Food Programme (WFP):
“Pending permitting, we plan to assist 900,000 people for three months and half of those in need of assistance for an additional three months. The United Nations in Cuba finalised its response plan, which has been approved by the government and will be launched officially tomorrow from La Habana, appealing for a total of 74 million US dollars, all sectors included, and aiming at assisting around a million persons affected over a period of 12 months, including the recovery period.”
12. Wide shot, press room dais
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Etienne Labande, Country Director, Cuba, World Food Programme (WFP):
“Even before Melissa hit one in two Haitians were already severely food insecure. Armed groups controlled large areas of the capital and other regions, complicating food movements within the country. Our colleagues are reporting that homes and infrastructure have been washed away along the southern coast, where 1,250,000 people, estimated to be affected by the hurricane.”
14. Wide shot, end of briefing
31 OCTOBER 2025, ST ELIZABETH, JAMAICA
15. Various shots, aerial views, destruction
01 NOVEMBER 2025, KINGSTON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, JAMAICA
16. Various shots, arrival of WFP Food Boxes at Kingston international Airport
02 NOVEMBER 2025, SANTA CRUZ, JAMAICA
3. Various shots, WFP-contracted trucks arriving in St. Elizabeth Parish with food boxes at a local high school where locals who have lost their homes shelter at night
4. Various shots, WFP Food Distribution
World Food Programme (WFP) officials in the Caribbean today (4 Nov) briefed journalists in New York on the impact of Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti and ongoing response and operations to support those affected.
From Jamaica, the Country Director for WFP’s Multi-Country Caribbean Office, Brian Bogart, said, “many people across Jamaica have lost their homes, they've lost their livelihoods, and they're still in shock.”
Bogart said, “the Jamaican people are resilient. They tell us they are. We see that they are. But they need urgent support to maintain that resilience.”
He said, WFP “has managed to airlift 2000 food kits from a regional logistics hub that we have established for the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Management Agency in Barbados to Kingston, and we continue to airlift additional supplies while we're sending up a commodity pipeline of assistance from markets here in Jamaica and working with national authorities to coordinate delivery of that assistance to people in need by air and by road.”
Bogart stressed WFP’s “commitment to meet the most urgent needs of the people in Jamaica and to support long term recovery efforts to ensure that the people of this country remain food secure.”
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that more than 1.5 million people – over half of Jamaica’s population – have been affected by Melissa, facing the loss of their homes and livelihoods.
More than 130 roads have been blocked, while power and communication networks have been disrupted. Access to some western parishes remains difficult due to roads being blocked by debris as well as fuel shortages.
Health services are under heavy strain, as several hospitals and clinics were damaged or destroyed, including the hospital in the town of Black River.
WFP estimates that up to 360,000 people may require food assistance. Meanwhile, UNICEF and its partners are working to restore safe water and sanitation services, particularly in shelters and affected communities.
WFP’s Country Director in Cuba, Etienne Labande, for his part praised the Cuban Government’s anticipatory actions, which he said, “demonstrated not only saved lives, they also optimise resources and reinforce the resilience of Cuba's emergency response system.”
Labande said, “the ongoing response is an outcome of preparedness work alongside the Cuban government. Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated ahead of the shock to protection centres, and WFP and the government prepositioned food supplies to support 275,000 people for up to 60 days.”
Pending permitting, he said, WFP plans to assist “900,000 people for three months and half of those in need of assistance for an additional three months.”
The United Nations in Cuba, Labande continued, has finalised its response plan, “which has been approved by the government and will be launched officially tomorrow from La Habana, appealing for a total of 74 million US dollars, all sectors included, and aiming at assisting around a million persons affected over a period of 12 months, including the recovery period.”
In Doha today, Secretary-General António Guterres met with Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz and discussed the impact of climate change on the Caribbean, and the devastation left recently by hurricane Melissa.
The Prime Minister commended the United Nations team’s response and support to Cuba in these difficult circumstances, while the Secretary-General assured the Prime Minister of the United Nations’ solidarity and continued aid to Cuba in this regard.
Turning to Haiti, Labande said, “even before Melissa hit one in two Haitians were already severely food insecure. Armed groups controlled large areas of the capital and other regions, complicating food movements within the country. Our colleagues are reporting that homes and infrastructure have been washed away along the southern coast, where 1,250,000 people, estimated to be affected by the hurricane.”
The UN and partners in Haiti, continue to carry out assessments of the damage wreaked by Hurricane Melissa and are ramping up our efforts to reach people in need. According to the authorities, at least 30 people have died.
OCHA continues to work closely with authorities and partners to ensure a coherent, efficient, and well-coordinated response, facilitating information sharing and supporting collective efforts to reach affected populations. The $908 million Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for is just over 21 percent funded with $195 million received so far.
