US rescue teams to descend on hard-hit Caribbean after catastrophic Hurricane Melissa's impact

FIRST ON FOX: The State Department is deploying teams that are expected to arrive in the Caribbean as early as Thursday to support disaster response after Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica Tuesday.

The State Department announced it would deploy a regional disaster assistance response team (DART) and had activated U.S.-based urban search and rescue (USAR) teams to support response efforts in the region following Hurricane Melissa.

A senior State Department official told Fox News Digital Wednesday that these teams are expected to arrive in Jamaica Thursday since the airport hasn’t suffered too much damage, but plans are in place to coordinate with the Department of War for a potential airlift in case commercial operations are not available.

Likewise, the State Department also has requested the Department of War provide airlift support to provide food, water and other nutritional supplies to those in need throughout the island.

Storm surge is pictured before the arrival of Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean Terrace area of Kingston, Jamaica, Oct. 25, 2025. (Ricardo Makyn/AFP via Getty Images)

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Another disaster assistance response team is expected to provide assistance to Haiti Thursday. The Bahamas also are expected to request a declaration of humanitarian need later Wednesday, which will allow the State Department to activate a disaster assistance response team there too, which could arrive as early as Friday, the official said.

Additionally, the State Department has signed off on nearly $1 million to go toward administering food and other resources, pulling from predesignated supplies housed in 12 different warehouses across the region. This includes six warehouses based in Haiti, one in the Dominican Republic, another in Barbados and one in Miami.

"We have stood up resources to assist our American citizens who are on the ground, in addition to deploying Disaster Assistance Response Teams who will help provide critical coordination in overseeing U.S. assistance," State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

A man watches the waves crash into the walls at the Kingston Waterfront Oct. 27, 2025.

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Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica as a Category 5 hurricane — the highest level — and is the most powerful to strike Kingston since the island started tracking its storms 174 years ago.

Jamaica is reporting at least one death as a result of the storm, and significant damage to the island that has wiped out power for a majority of citizens. Roughly 77% of the island does not have power, Dana Morris Dixon, Jamaica’s education minister said Wednesday.

Additionally, more than 25,000 people in Jamaica have headed to shelters after the storm destroyed their homes.

The State Department announced it would deploy a regional disaster assistance response team (DART) and had activated U.S.-based urban search and rescue (USAR) teams to support response efforts in the region following Hurricane Melissa.  (Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

"It’s not going to be an easy road, Jamaica," said Desmond McKenzie, deputy chairman of Jamaica’s Disaster Risk Management Council.

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The hurricane is now on its way to Cuba as a Category 2 storm. Other Caribbean countries, including the Bahamas, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and the Turks and Caicos, also expect to experience fallout from the storm.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.