As Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday, people with family on the island grew increasingly worried.
Sanjae Edwards might be in Jacksonville, but her heart is in Jamaica with family members scattered across the island.
The licensed clinical social worker and therapist said many members of her extended family live on the island’s west side, directly in the storm’s path.
Edwards’ parents and brother are also visiting Jamaica and were due to return to Florida next week, so she watched anxiously on Tuesday as the system moved ashore.
“Just hoping for the best. Hoping for the best,” Edwards said. “My parents, first and foremost, and my brother, they’re there. My aunts, cousins that I grew up with, friends.”
Edwards said her relatives prepared the best they could, stocking food, water and other supplies.
“They have made an effort to get the things that they needed,” she said. “Recognizing that there may be difficulty in being able to get out after the storm.”
She voiced particular concern about the intensity of the storm, a Category 5 with sustained wind speeds upward of 185 mph before it made landfall.
“I’m very worried, so concerned, but very worried because Jamaica’s never really dealt with a Category 5 hurricane,” Edwards said.
Melissa is the third Category 5 storm of the season, but the first Category 5 hurricane to strike land in the Atlantic this decade.
Asked what the mood was like on the island as the storm approached, Edwards said residents tried to find comfort in familiar traditions.
“I think some people are making the best of a situation that’s not necessarily going to be the best,” she said. “I think, as a group of people, a lot of times humor, you know, parties, cooking are ways of just coming together and just doing the best we can.”
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