5 Ways Save the Children is Responding to the Devastating Impacts of Hurricane Melissa in the Carribean

The strongest storm of 2025 is  threatening children’s lives, homes, and education across the Caribbean. Children in Haiti and the Dominican Republic face grave risks as Hurricane Melissa devastates communities. 

Hurricane Melissa left a trail of devastation across the Caribbean. Prolonged torrential rain, storm surges, and severe flooding caused widespread destruction of infrastructure and disrupted essential services such as health and education. The storm directly hit Jamaica and Cuba and also affected Haiti and the Dominican Republic, impacting millions of people, including children.  

In Haiti, about 14,000 people have been newly displaced by the hurricane, over 1.3 million people were already displaced due to armed groups — half of them children. In Dominican Republic, heavy rains have left more than 1 million people without access to clean water, with over 3,700 people displaced from their homes. Ongoing rainfall is heightening the risk of flooding, landslides, waterborne diseases, and further displacement, putting children and families in grave danger.  

Save the Children is present in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and is responding to the devastating impact children and their families are facing. Here’s how: 

1. Providing essential hygiene supplies:
   In the Dominican Republic, our teams have distributed hygiene kits containing soap, toothbrushes, toilet paper, and menstrual hygiene products to help families stay healthy amid flooding and limited access to clean water. 
2. Supporting communities to recover:
   We’ve provided detergent, wheelbarrows, and brooms to help families in flooded areas clean their homes and surroundings safely. 
3. Helping children cope and keep learning:
   To bring comfort and a sense of normalcy, we’ve distributed educational and play materials, including puzzles, books, board games, paints, and toys, for children sheltering in schools and community centres. 
4. Delivering cash and hygiene support to families in Haiti:
   In the Great South, we are preparing to provide multipurpose cash assistance to families sheltering in schools, along with prepositioned hygiene kits containing essentials like soap, detergent, and toothbrushes. 
5. Supporting children’s return to school:
   Working with Haiti’s Ministry of Education, we’re helping to clean and repair damaged schools, replace furniture, and ensure children can safely resume learning once the storm has passed. 

Save the Children teams are also monitoring the situation in Haiti’s Great North, where heavy rains and strong winds continue, ready to adapt our response as soon as needs assessments are completed.