Hurricane Melissa tore through the Caribbean last week, slamming into Jamaica on October 28 as a monstrous Category 5 cyclone and then pushing into eastern Cuba as a Category 3 storm the following day. The eyewall came ashore near the town of New Hope with sustained winds reported at roughly 185 mph, a level of fury that few communities could withstand without catastrophic consequences. What we are watching is human devastation in real time — families ripped from their homes, whole parishes under water, and an urgent scramble to save lives and property.
Reports from the island paint a grim picture: entire districts inundated, roads turned into rivers, and more than half a million people knocked out of power as hospitals and businesses suffered heavy damage. Officials evacuated vulnerable patients after hospitals lost power and dozens of communities found themselves cut off by floodwaters and fallen trees. These are not abstract numbers; these are lives overturned and livelihoods erased in a matter of hours.
Local meteorologists issued blunt warnings ahead of the storm — “catastrophic” and “life-threatening” were not hyperbole but accurate descriptions of what came to pass — and emergency services did what they could under impossible conditions. Evan Thompson of the Meteorological Service in Jamaica warned that there was very little that could stop a Category 5 hurricane, and the island’s communities responded with last-minute evacuations and sheltering. The grim reality is that when nature unleashes this kind of force, preparation matters, and even the best-laid plans can be overwhelmed.
Americans should admire the immediate bravery of first responders and neighbors helping neighbors, but we should also be skeptical of officials who use disasters as political theater. Jamaica’s prime minister has rightly declared a disaster area to unlock resources, yet calls from international elites for climate reparations already bubble up even as people stand in the rubble looking for vanishing livelihoods. Aid and rescue must come first; ideological grandstanding and international blame games can wait until the survivors are safe.
Yes, scientists are noting that unusually warm ocean waters likely fueled Melissa’s rapid intensification, and that is a legitimate area for study. But what matters most right now is practical help — boats, fuel, medical teams, power crews, and food — not lectures from distant bureaucracies or pious demands for reparations while victims shiver without electricity. If the climate conversation is to be useful, it must focus on resilience, infrastructure hardening, and real-world solutions instead of political posturing.
The United States and private American charities must step forward immediately with direct, effective aid — not endless red tape that leaves people waiting on a promise. Faith-based organizations, churches, and local charities have always been the quickest to reach suffering neighbors, and conservatives should champion those channels of relief over top-down international programs that are slow and often wasteful. This is a time for muscle and mercy, not for virtue-signaling and slow-moving bureaucracies.
As the recovery begins, hardworking Jamaicans and Cubans will need sustained help, and Americans should answer the call in the proud tradition of private charity and community solidarity. Pray for the victims, donate to reputable relief groups, and demand that policymakers focus on real preparedness measures — stronger grids, hardened hospitals, and better evacuation logistics — so fewer families face this kind of devastation in the future. In the face of nature’s fury, conservative values of self-reliance, neighborly duty, and rapid charitable response are the clearest path to saving lives and restoring hope.
