New York 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.

New York state is home to 22,800 foreign-born Cubans and 225,000 foreign-born Jamaicans, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Now, the Caribbean diaspora from Miami to New York City is turning its heartbreak into action.

Many Haitian and Jamaican Americans are all too familiar with the pain of watching a catastrophe unfold from afar, with Melissa being the latest in a long line of crises.

Residents are helping send supplies to the communities across Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti and the Bahamas that were battered by the hurricane.

The storm which made landfall in Jamaica as a Category 5 is one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record.