Millions of people in Jamaica are bracing for Hurricane Melissa, a storm that officials say could be the worst in the island’s history.
Hurricane Melissa made landfall Tuesday as a Category 5 hurricane and one of the strongest hurricanes on record in the Atlantic.
Severe Weather Team 2 is monitoring the conditions and will have the latest developments on Channel 2 Action News.
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Channel 2’s Jorge Estevez spoke with a tourist from Atlanta who is riding out the storm.
“I’ve been in Jamaica for the last six, seven, eight years in October, so it did catch me as a shock as soon as I got here. I was mental, like, listen, a hurricane is coming, a hurricane is coming,” Donna Lee Gordon said Monday on WSB Tonight at 11.
Gordon is visiting the island and some family members who live there to celebrate her birthday. All major airports are now closed on the island with flights canceled.
“Do you feel safe in the hotel as your plan?” Estevez asked Gordon.
“I do feel safe. The director for the hotel made us aware that if something, some type of breach might happen in our actual room, the stairwells are built with some type of concrete,” Gordon said.
“They do have backup generators. They do have back up water that can last us up to at least three business days,” she added.
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Heavy equipment spent days racing to clear drainage ditches. Some areas could get up to 40 inches of rain.
Video from the US Air Force Hurricane Hunters tracking Melissa shows the inside of the eyewall. One of the flights into the storm had to turn back after hitting severe turbulence.
Like so many Tuesday morning, Gordon is hoping for the best.
“What message do you have for everybody here back home in Georgia as this thing gets closer?” Estevez asked.
“Hope for the best and pray that it doesn’t damage the country as what it seems,” she said.
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