Israel is Providing Urgent Hurricane Aid to Jamaica
Israeli NGOs send emergency teams and resources following category 5 Hurricane Melissa.
When natural disasters like earthquakes or hurricanes occur, Israel is always there to lend a helping hand. This is the case in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, a category 5 storm which left devastation in its wake after making landfall in the island nation of Jamaica on October 28, 2025.
The storm was the strongest ever to make landfall in Jamaica and the second strongest in the region, reported 7 Israel National News. The hurricane made landfall in Black River, in southwest Jamaica with sustained winds of 185mph (295 kmh), torrential rainfall, and a 10 ft (3m) storm surge. The area was still recovering from Hurricane Beryl in 2024.
IsraAID
Israel’s leading independant humanitarian organization already launched an emergency response just after the hurricane moved northward after battering the island nation. The first team arrived within days to assess urgent needs and to provide help with water, hygiene, sanitation, as well as Mental Health support.
IsraAID’s team is composed of experts in all these fields who arrived from the organization’s offices in Dominica and Colombia, as well as members of the global organization.
“The damage we’re seeing from Hurricane Melissa is devastating, and IsraAID is committed to standing with affected communities at this critical moment. Communities in southwest Jamaica were severely impacted by Hurricane Beryl just last year and are now experiencing destruction on a whole new scale,” IsraAID’s senior director of emergency operations Michal Bar said in a statement from the organization.
The full extent of the damage and the urgent needs will become clear in the coming days, but we can already see the historic scale of this storm,” IsraAID’s senior director of emergency operations Michal Bar said in a statement from the organization.
SmartAID
SmartAID, an Israel humanitarian organization also sent resources to Jamaica, reported the Times of Israel. This included 10 pallets of batteries and solar power units. The organization is collaborating with its corporate partners to send microgrids and clean water systems. With 70 percent of people across the country without power, this is desperately needed aid.
The organization is working with the Jamaican Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) and national relief organizations to send the technology to the areas that were the hardest hit.
“When power and connectivity collapse, aid stops, rescue cannot coordinate, and families cannot reach help,” SmartAID founding director Shachar Zahavi told Times of Israel. “Our mission is to keep essential services running in the midst of this disaster and to build resilience for what comes next.”
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