Stand with the people of Jamaica

The storm may have passed, but for 1.6 million people in Jamaica the hardship and heartbreak left in Hurricane Melissa’s wake is far from over.

The damage is severe, with over 116,000 homes and 100 schools badly damaged, and 25,000 people living in temporary shelters. Food, water, and other essentials are urgently needed.

What your generosity enabled REACT to deliver in week one

As the storm made landfall, your support was already helping to move aid from ports to people. Through our Standby Partnership with the UN World Food Programme, REACT’s volunteer responders deployed within 24 hours.

With your help, they kept relief moving and they got it to the right places:

• 520 family food packs meant 2,080 vulnerable people did not go hungry, with a full week of meals helping families stabilise after the storm

• 8,640 bottles of safe drinking water helped people stay safely hydrated and reduced the risk of water-borne illness

• 700 tarpaulins provided emergency cover for 2,800 people so clothes, bedding and belongings stayed dry

• 1,080 hygiene kits helped people stay clean and reduced the risk of disease

• 16 generators brought power for about 800 people, helping keep lights on and medicines refrigerated where needed

• 320 School-in-a-Box units helped partners restart learning for about 16,000 students so children could catch up instead of falling behind

• Mobile Storage Units set up in Montego Bay, Black River, and Santa Cruz.

What is still needed

This operation is a chain:

Port → Warehouse → Truck / Helicopter → Community.

Every link costs money. People, fuel, drivers and data all have to line up so a family in a cut-off community does not wait yet another day for someone to arrive.

Power remains patchy. Some roads are still submerged. Schools are still sheltering families. Our teams are still on the ground in Jamaica, helping partners plan loads, move supplies and run distributions that reach the places that are hardest to get to.

This is what humanitarian assistance looks like in real life - practical, quiet, hard work behind the headlines that keeps hope alive.

How your gift helps today

• £25 could help deliver food and water to a family.

• £50 could help more generators arrive at clinics and shelters.

• £100 could help position and move essential supplies to cut-off communities.

Please donate to the Hurricane Melissa Appeal. If you cannot give today, sharing this page is a real help too.

Why REACT

REACT is a UK disaster response charity known for speed, discipline and collaboration. Our trained volunteers integrate with local authorities and international partners like the UN World Food Programme. We focus on coordination, logistics and communications so aid reaches people quickly and safely.

How we use your donation

Your donation supports REACT’s response to Hurricane Melissa, including food assistance, water, sanitation and hygiene, shelter, and logistics with partners. If we raise more than needed for this appeal, or if circumstances change, funds will be used where they are needed most across our emergency response work. If you are a UK taxpayer, please add Gift Aid at checkout. It increases your impact at no extra cost.

Images show the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa and REACT Responders supporting recovery efforts across Jamaica.

Credit: REACT, 2025.