Kishan Kode, the United Nations Development Programmes resident representative covering The Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Jamaica and Turks and Caicos, said Hurricane Melissa made landfall Oct. 28 as a Category 5 storm with about 300 kilometers per hour winds and has produced the worst climate disaster in Jamaicas history.

Kode said UNDP teams have visited affected communities, including New Hope in western Jamaica, and met residents who described total loss of homes and livelihoods. "This shows the face of the climate emergency as an exacerbator pushing people into poverty and displacement," Kode said.

Using UNDPs digital impact-assessment platform and AI-powered tools, Kode said the agency estimates close to 5,000,000 metric tons of debris across western Jamaica. He cited figures in the UNDP assessment for vegetation debris (about 1,300,000 tons) and personal-property debris (about 1,400,000 metric tons), and used an illustrative phrase about "would fill approximately 500,000" in reference to building/damage estimates (phrase as spoken in the briefing; transcript wording on that point was ambiguous). Kode said those figures illustrate major challenges for roads, access and relief operations.

Kode announced that UNDP has an initial allocation of US$400,000 to support immediate assessment work and planning for early and medium-term recovery. He described UNDP priorities as: recovery planning and strategy; SME and livelihoods recovery; solar for community needs; debris removal; and restoration of ecosystems. Kode said a rapid recovery team is being deployed to support national partners and communities on the ground.

When asked how many people UNDP and its partners have reached with humanitarian aid, Kode deferred to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), saying reach figures are being coordinated through OCHA situation reports and that UNDPs media team would follow up. A moderator in the briefing said OCHA provides regular updates and that yesterdays briefing included figures; no updated reach figure was provided during this session.

Kode and other speakers said immediate needs being addressed by humanitarian partners such as the World Food Programme (WFP), UNICEF, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the World Health Organization (WHO) include food, safe water and shelter. Kode also reported damage to hospitals, crop fields and local food stores and interruptions to water supply.

Kode said a rapid needs assessment led by OCHA and a CARICOM-affiliated subregional disaster agency (transcript name rendered as "Sadima"; name appears uncertain in the briefing transcript) was under way and expected to produce rapid data by the end of the week. He emphasized that debris removal is critical both to restore access to remote communities and to enable delivery of relief and recovery assistance.

Kode concluded by reaffirming UNDPs longstanding work in Jamaica on climate change and disaster management and by offering follow-up through UNDPs media team and OCHA situation reports for more detailed data.