It's a major international disaster. And it comes in the wake of the Trump administration's dismantling of the world's largest aid agency, the United States Agency for International Development, along with the slashing of billions of dollars in foreign assistance.
Hurricane Melissa, the most powerful Atlantic storm of this year, has torn through Jamaica and several other islands in the Caribbean, leaving a trail of devastation. With major flooding and power outages, Prime Minister Andrew Holness has declared the country a "disaster area."
The State Department confirmed that Jamaica has formally asked for help. And President Trump told reporters on Wednesday that the U.S. will respond: "We're watching it closely, and we're prepared to move."
Will the U.S. be able to meet the needs of Jamaica and other affected island nations?
NPR spoke to half a dozen experts in disaster relief. They all noted that hurricane Melissa is is a real test for U.S. disaster response capabilities since the shutdown of USAID.
Here's are key points to consider:
USAID was the lead federal agency coordinating disaster response but no longer exists.
The agency had a staff of about 800 people trained in disaster relief and a road map for handling disasters like Melissa. For disasters like this epic hurricane, preparations would have started months in advance.
"USAID would have been working with governments and embassies in the region on preparing for hurricane season," says Sarah Charles, who led USAID's Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance during the Biden administration. "And this would have been everything from exercises with emergency management authorities in different countries [and aid groups], to pre-positioning stocks of things like plastic sheeting, emergency food, household item kits warehouses in places like Miami, but also in particular countries like Haiti, which is very vulnerable to storms of this nature."
The agency would also often send out staff ahead of a predicted disaster like Melissa to be on the ground before airports or roads were closed.
USAID also coordinated efforts with the Pentagon and other federal agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as with charities and organizations led by immigrants to the U.S. from the affected places, who often have a good handle on the needs of communities in their home countries.
In the wake of the aid cuts, these efforts have been largely eliminated.
The State Department is stepping in but there are concerns about its capabilities.
After the shutdown of USAID on July 1, about 100 of USAID's disaster response staff survived the transition and are working in the State Department's Bureau of Population Refugees and Migration, which is responsible for humanitarian aid.
And the State Department is now mounting a response.
"The United States is in close contact with the governments of Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic and The Bahamas as they confront the devastating impacts of Hurricane Melissa. We have rescue and response teams heading to affected areas along with critical lifesaving supplies," said Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a post on X on Wednesday.
Brian Heidel, who's worked as a humanitarian for more than two decades and led USAID's Caribbean teams, says the announcement is a "welcome sign" and describes an effective way to deal with a disaster of this magnitude.
It's also important to note that the country where a disaster takes place takes the lead in establishing the type of aid needed.
In this case, says Sarah Charles, the Jamaican government will likely want U.S. help with emergency food and supplies and transportation to bring such aid to remote areas as well as damage assessment.
"So, using our technology to do damage assessments and sharing those with the government, supporting their communication and logistics, all with the aim of helping the Jamaican government get to those that are the most cut off and the most vulnerable," she says.
Nonetheless there are concerns about the U.S. ability to coordinate the expected response.
Experts interviewed also cautioned that the State Department is bureaucratic and has systems and operating procedures that were not built with disaster relief in mind. So things could take longer.
"So many of USAID's systems came out of, frankly, the negative experiences of the Haiti earthquake, where people both in and out of the government were so moved by the devastation that a lot of help flooded in, but in a totally uncoordinated way that created more chaos and challenges in the response," says Sarah Charles, adding that the agency's expertise built over decades may not have survived the administration's cuts.
Then there's the matter of the budget upheaval. Heidel says the cuts to programs and staff limits the capability for the U.S. to respond to new disasters that can happen anywhere, "because they're spread so very thin on all of the pre-existing disasters. Obviously, there's so much going on worldwide and in the Middle East and in Africa," he says.
And with all the cuts, he says that there's simply "no way that the U.S. government is going to be able to provide a major level of support that they have provided in the past."
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