Hurricane Melissa has devastated communities across Jamaica and the Caribbean, leaving thousands in need of immediate assistance.

Jamaica’s Water and Environment Minister Matthew Samuda took to the social media platform X in a desperate bid to find tarpaulin after Melissa tore off scores of roofs on homes in western Jamaica. X users chimed in to help, indicating where they had seen supplies.

"I lost everything, all my things," he said. "We need food. We have no food."

Survival is the primary concern atop most people's minds here. The other is the rising death toll. Officials in Jamaica said on Thursday that at least 19 people had died in the country, a big jump from the five that had been counted the day before. Another 30 have died in neighbouring Haiti due to the storm.

Ozzy Samad, president of Brother’s Brother Foundation, knew Pittsburgh needed to step up to help Jamaica after seeing the size and strength of Hurricane Melissa. Within 72 hours, the North Side-based nonprofit had packed and loaded its first shipment of relief supplies onto trucks for transport.

South Florida was spared a direct blow from Hurricane Melissa, but the massive storm still hit home for the millions of residents there who have deep roots in the Caribbean.

As residents of Jamaica brace for Hurricane Melissa’s powerful winds, South Florida cities and organizations are getting ready to send support<a class="excerpt-read-more" href=" More

Maie Lee Jones and Adonis Zamora of the Cuban food truck Habana 406, here in Helena, still have family and friends in Cuba and Jamaica.

Designed to withstand 150-mph winds, the egg farm Osbourne Brumley built with his life savings in western Jamaica's St. Elizabeth parish proved no match for Category 5 Hurricane Melissa.