Hurricane Melissa Makes Landfall in Cuba, 25 Dead in Haiti

Published 1 day ago

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Above: A family salvages belongings from the rubble of their home in Santiago de Cuba on Oct. 29, 2025. Image copyright: Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images

The Spin

Despite the threat of Hurricane Melissa, Caribbean islands are using innovative debt-for-climate financing to build resilience without crushing debt burdens. Some nations are converting debt into climate-safe investments and launching funds to build stronger infrastructure and cut reliance on external borrowing. Barbados just secured $125 million in savings through groundbreaking partnerships, creating a replicable model for climate adaptation across the Caribbean.

David Ramirez Alvarez on X Inter-American Development Bank Granma

As Hurricane Melissa bears down on the Caribbean, island nations already reeling from climate-fueled disasters face crushing debt. They remain trapped in a devastating cycle where climate disasters pile on more debt while wealthy countries abandon their climate commitments. Hurricane Melissa exposes how $300 billion in mostly-loan pledges falls drastically short of the $1 trillion needed annually and how many small islands are forced into high-cost borrowing just to rebuild.

The New York Times United Nations

Metaculus Prediction

There's a 50% chance that the National Hurricane Center's 48-hour annual average track error for Atlantic Basin tropical storms and hurricanes will be 30 nautical miles or less for any year before 2031, according to the Metaculus prediction community.