The director of apostolates for a Jamaica-based religious community serving the poor in Kingston said 28 October that the Category-5 Hurricane Melissa seems to be sparing Kingston the worst of its wrath.
But he added that the storm was not yet finished, and much remained unknown about the historic hurricane’s impact in the region.
“In this hurricane we did quite a bit of preparation and honestly we are scared and we don’t know what to expect,” said Brother Nowel Barroga Rebamonte, a 22-year-member of the Missionaries of the Poor, who spoke with OSV News by phone 28 October.
Hurricane Melissa, a Category 5 storm with winds of ranging from 175-185 mph, had already killed at least seven people – three in Haiti, one in the Dominican Republic and three in Jamaica – before it made landfall 28 October in southwestern Jamaica at about 1pm ET.
Six hours later or so, CNN reported that the storm, the strongest the planet has seen this year, was plowing across Jamaica, with its eye moving toward Cuba.
Desmond McKenzie, Jamaica’s minister for local government, told CNN that “close to 15,000 Jamaicans were in emergency shelters across the country as the island continued to feel the effects of Hurricane Melissa.”
