From forecast to frontline: how acting early helped people prepare for Hurricane Melissa
In the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa's landfall, local residents in St Elizabeth Parish in Jamaica join the World Food Programme to assemble a mobile storage unit on the grounds of a local church, one of the last hard-surface sites before Black River—crucial for parking trucks and unloading relief supplies. The structure will serve as a staging point for food and other essential supplies bound for communities further west, including Black River, which remains among the hardest-hit areas. Many of those helping with the construction were also affected by Hurricane Beryl in 2024 and are now facing renewed hardship after Hurricane Melissa. Photo: OCHA/Marc Belanger
When Hurricane Melissa intensified to Category 5, bringing destructive winds, storm surges, and catastrophic rainfall across the Caribbean—particularly affecting Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti—OCHA and its partners mobilized rapidly to support communities and reinforce government-led efforts.Through anticipatory action (AA), they were able to quickly mobilize funds, evacuate families, and deliver life-saving aid before the storm hit. Raquel Peña, an AA specialist with OCHA’s Regional Office in Panama, explains how acting early made a difference to thousands of lives in the Caribbean.
On 21 October, forecasts showed that Melissa, a Category 5 hurricane, would be near Haiti in the next three days or so. Within an hour, a pre-agreed amount of US $4 million from the OCHA-managed UN Global Emergency Fund was released to support more than 100,000 vulnerable people in Haiti’s high-risk southern areas.
The response was made possible by activating a framework that allows anticipatory action. The AA framework is a proactive approach to manage potential impacts of a hazard. It uses forecasts to trigger pre-agreed actions and financing before a hazard strikes. [You can learn more about it here].
The early response included disseminating early warning messages, life-saving evacuations, providing cash transfers, emergency shelters, water, sanitation, and hygiene kits.
The response was coordinated by OCHA with the World Food Programme, the UN Children’s Fund and the International Organization for Migration.
Nicole Flora Boni Kouassi, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Haiti said, “Anticipatory action proved its worth. Even though Hurricane Melissa didn’t hit Haiti directly, activating the framework early allowed us to help families prepare for the worse.”
World Food Programme staff prepare food boxes for people affected by Hurricane Melissa. Photo: WFP
Anticipatory action in Cuba
In Cuba, the anticipatory action framework was activated days later as Melissa intensified. As forecasts showed the hurricane would likely impact Cuba with Category 4 winds, exceeding trigger thresholds.
Within minutes, another $4 million from CERF was released, enabling UN agencies to support Cuban authorities in assisting more than 170,000 people at severe risk ahead of the storm.
This critical funding enabled humanitarian partners to evacuate and shelter people in safe locations, distribute health supplies, tarpaulins, generators, mattresses, and agricultural materials, and bring food, shelter, health, water, sanitation and hygiene services to communities at risk.
“Preparation makes the difference,” underlined Francisco Pichon, the UN Resident Coordinator in Cuba “The swift response to Hurricane Melissa was possible thanks to the activation of our anticipatory action framework five days before the impact. The activation contributed to the fact that up to now no hurricane-related loss of life has been reported in Cuba.”
Hurricane Melissa has already caused flooding in Haiti's southern coast. Haiti's civil protection officials and humanitarian partners are working on providing urgent assistance and shelter to people in most at-risk areas. Photo: OCHA Haiti.
Delivering results in line with the Humanitarian Reset
AA embodies the principles of the Humanitarian Reset: locally led by governments and non-governmental organizations, globally supported by UN entities, rooted in communities, and driven by needs in the most high-risk areas. Financing is flexible, targeted, and timely.
AA is a transformative shift in humanitarian response. By enabling early action, it helps communities prepare for disasters, reduces human suffering, and fosters resilience.
This is why at the upcoming Global Dialogue Platform on Anticipatory Action, which will be held in Berlin from 2 to 4 December, experts, practitioners, governments, and donors will come together to explore how the humanitarian system can make a real shift from reaction to anticipation.
At the event, OCHA will focus on strengthening coordination and innovation in AA to deliver a leaner, more efficient, local, and impactful humanitarian response.
Post a Comment
Yorum ekle