US ready to send humanitarian aid to Cuba after Hurricane Melissa devastation

Nora Gamez Torres, Miami Herald on Oct 30, 2025

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The United States stands prepared to provide immediate humanitarian assistance to Cuba following the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Melissa, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday.

“We are prepared to offer immediate humanitarian aid to the people of Cuba affected by the Hurricane,” Rubio stated in a post on X. The State Department has issued a humanitarian assistance declaration for Cuba, similar to measures taken for other Caribbean nations battered by the storm.

“In light of Hurricane Melissa’s devastation of eastern Cuba, the Trump Administration stands in solidarity with the resilient Cuban people as they strive to fulfill their basic needs,” Rubio added in his statement.

Shortly after the statement, Cuban officials signaled they were considering the offer, a surprising gesture that breaks Cuba’s tradition of flatly rejecting disaster aid from the U.S. government.

“Following today’s public communications regarding hurricane damage, we have been in contact with the State Department and are awaiting clarification on how and in what way they are prepared to assist,” said Carlos Fernández de Cossío, Cuba’s vice foreign affairs minister.

The response of Cuban authorities came amid heightened tensions between the two governments. Just Wednesday, Cuban and U.S. officials clashed at the United Nations over the U.S. embargo, exchanging accusations about which government is responsible for the island’s severe economic crisis. At the U.N., Cuba’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez, accused the United States of being behind a “destabilizing plan” against his government.

But speaking at the U.N., Rodríguez also said the island is dealing with the hurricane aftermath “with virtually no resources.”

A day after Hurricane Melissa, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in recorded history, battered eastern Cuba, there is a clearer picture of the devastation it left in an impoverished country where the population was already battling blackouts, food and medicine shortages and the breakdown of public services.

Most of eastern Cuba has been without electricity since Tuesday, communications are mostly down and several communities, especially in rural areas, remain isolated because of the intense flooding.

Melissa tore through the Caribbean as a Category 5 hurricane before making landfall in Chivirico, in Santiago de Cuba province, early Wednesday as a Category 3 storm. The hurricane’s winds destroyed homes, roads and toppled trees across its path. The storm also damaged crops, including coffee and yuca.

Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel said the storm was “one of the strongest, most severe, or perhaps the strongest hurricanes to have passed through the national territory.”

Cuban officials said they had staged several brigades to help launch recovery efforts as soon as the hurricane moved away. But videos and accounts shared on social media and local news outlets show many communities have not immediately received aid.

The damage across eastern Cuba has been severe and widespread, with major flooding leaving homes underwater, rivers overflowing and landslides blocking access to communities.

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