More than 80 people died and approximately six million were affected by the category 5 hurricane, one of the most intense recorded in the Atlantic.
The senior humanitarian official placed special emphasis on Haiti, which is already grappling with challenges including gang violence, primarily in the capital, and food insecurity.
Approximately 5.7 million people (more than half the population) are hungry and 1.4 million nationwide are displaced.
Fleeing through rivers of mud
Hurricane Melissa dumped heavy rain on southern Haiti, affecting 1.2 million people.
Mrs. Castro had just arrived from the town of Petit-Goâve, where the river overflowed and “People had to escape from their homes in the middle of the night through rivers of mud..” Twenty-five residents died.
He met “women and men in utter distress” who are trying to rebuild their lives after losing their loved ones, their homes, their livelihoods, their crops and their livestock.
WFP, along with other UN agencies, NGOs and the government, were on the ground “from day one” providing food and then cash transfers, allowing people to make their own purchasing decisions.
The women told her they will use the cash transfers to buy food, soap and other immediate needs.
“We also spoke to a group of young people who are organized trying to help these communities restart their lives,” he continued.
“And what they ask is: ‘Please don’t forget us. Don’t forget us, because a month and a half ago we were all over the news, but now we need continued support.’”
Recovery and rehabilitation
The hurricane also caused catastrophic damage in western Jamaica and eastern Cuba, and WFP has helped more than 725,000 people in the four countries.
“Now we are trying to really work on recovery and rehabilitation through a number of tools,” Castro said, such as school feeding programs and supporting the government’s efforts to boost social protection by registering everyone who has been affected by the disaster.
“But what is very clear in Haiti and throughout the region is that we need to invest much more, as we have done this time, in anticipatory actions.”
Advance preparation is essential
WFP did a lot of work on emergency preparedness before the hurricane hit.
These measures included sending messages warning Haitians of the impending storm, reaching some 3.5 million across the country, and distributing advance cash transfers to more than 50,000 people. Teams in Cuba also moved food aid from the east of the island to the west.
“But we need to do a lot more of that,” he said. “We also need to make sure our simulations and preparation mechanisms are ready.”
Building community resilience
Ms. Castro highlighted examples such as microinsurance payments, which allow Haiti’s smallholder farmers – who provide the food used in WFP’s “homegrown” school meals programs – to continue producing.
“These are new mechanisms and tools that we need to do much more of in the region, in the Caribbean, because we know that every year there will be hurricanes or earthquakes, as we saw last year in Cuba,” he said.
“We really need to work harder to build the resilience of these permanently impacted populations so that food insecurity does not become a trend. but it is reduced, as communities work on their own and build their own resilience.”
WFP is seeking $83 million to reach 1.3 million people across the Caribbean affected by Hurricane Melissa. and approximately half of the funding has been received.