Jacksonville woman prays for family in Jamaica as Hurricane Melissa slams island with 185 mph winds<\/b><\/a><\/p>\nOther parts of the island experienced howling winds and more severe conditions.<\/p>\n
Ricky and Fanny waited out the storm, knowing the next day would bring significant challenges for people living in Jamaica. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe wish them the best. We hope that they continue to be resilient and be strong,\u201d Ricky said. \u201cSome of them can\u2019t even reach their family members yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the storm passed, Ricky sent video showing downed trees and roof damage near their location, though overall they were okay.<\/p>\n
However, the broader picture reveals hospitals, airports, and infrastructure flattened and scattered by the storm\u2019s force.<\/p>\n
Tens of thousands have reportedly sought shelter, and more than half a million people were without power Wednesday, according to the Jamaican government.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe pray for them and as soon as we can venture out, we will, because we want to see what\u2019s going on and how we can help,\u201d Ricky added.<\/p>\n
At least 25 people were killed in Haiti, and multiple fatalities have been recorded in Jamaica ahead of the storm, with the death toll expected to rise.<\/p>\n
Ricky and Fanny, who run a roofing business, Arica Construction, in Jacksonville, say they are working with the chamber of commerce to possibly send supplies to Jamaica and help with rebuilding efforts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll come back and if they need us, we will come back,\u201d Ricky said. \u201cI got general contractors, engineers that I can bring over and help out the situation over here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ricky and his wife plan to fly home this weekend and have been able to book a flight.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Jacksonville business owner in Jamaica is providing a firsthand look at the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":341594,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,3188,723,166184,7310,18155,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-341593","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-fl","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-hurricane-melissa","12":"tag-jacksonville","13":"tag-jamaica","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}