India Sends Critical Aid to Caribbean Nations Amid Hurricane Melissa Devastation

Taking to X, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar said, "Despatched 20 tonnes each of HADR relief materials for Jamaica and Cuba in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa. Indian Air Force flight carrying aid including Arogya Maitri BHISHM Cube, rehabilitation support items, food and daily utilities, medicines, medical equipment, power generators, shelter support and hygiene kits has departed from New Delhi today."

"India stands with our Global South partners in the face of such natural disasters and will assist our friends in recovery and reconstruction," he added.

Hurricane Melissa, one of the strongest Atlantic storms on record, caused widespread devastation across the Caribbean, leaving dozens dead and communities cut off.

Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica on October 28 as a Category 5 hurricane, the strongest storm in the island's recorded history.

The hurricane caused severe damage to infrastructure, downed power lines, and left most of the country without electricity.

Many areas remain inaccessible, and the full scale of destruction is still being assessed.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared Jamaica a disaster area as emergency crews launched rescue and relief operations.

The eye of the hurricane passed over the island's western parishes, sparing the capital, Kingston, from the worst of the impact.

The storm made landfall in Cuba on October 29 as an "extremely dangerous" Category 3 hurricane, according to the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) in Miami.

Cuban authorities said the island suffered "significant damage", with rising river levels isolating around 140,000 people.

The storm then moved off the island and into the Atlantic Ocean, also causing destruction in the Bahamas.

- IANS