HERRIMAN — As Hurricane Melissa slammed into Jamaica with winds topping 180 miles per hour, officials there are calling it one of the strongest storms in the island’s history.
But to some Jamaicans, including one now living in Utah, it’s just another part of life during hurricane season.
“I think that it could be serious because it’s a Category five, but at the same time, I feel like it’s normal,” said Narda Francom, a Herriman woman who grew up in Jamaica and still has family and friends on the island.
The powerful Category five hurricane made landfall Tuesday near the southwest town of New Hope before moving across the island.
Officials warned of catastrophic flooding and widespread power outages.
Evan Thompson, director of the Meteorological Service of Jamaica, urged residents to take shelter.
“If you are under the impact of those Category Five hurricane-force winds, you will be having significant difficulty, even with infrastructure that’s in the area,” he said. “Ensure that you are in the strongest area that you can.”
More than 250,000 tourists and hundreds of thousands of residents have lost power.
“There is no plan at this point to shut down the grid. JPS crews continue to respond and restore critical facilities and customers where it is safe to do so,” said Jamaica’s energy minister Daryl Vaz.
Vaz also said emergency relief flights might begin as early as Thursday.
“We are dotting all the I’s and crossing all the T’s to make sure that we facilitate all that is required for the response that is going to come in relation to the rebuilding phase after this catastrophic hurricane,” said Vaz.
For Francom’s family and friends in Jamaica, the storm has brought heavy rain and some street flooding, but also a familiar routine.
“Everyone always has matches and candles and all that stuff already,” she said. “They’ll go buy little essentials and all that stuff. They’re prepared with food and bread. Bread is big there.”
She said many Jamaicans are used to preparing for storms, especially during Hurricane season, and sometimes even find a bit of humor with the wind and rain.
“I was watching TikTok, and they were outside, and they were having fun,” she said. “I even saw somebody set up like a sound system because they were going to have a party and it’s supposed to storm and they’re like, ‘Well, I’m not going to let that stop me.'”
Still, Francom admitted this storm might be different.
“Sometimes we have to be a little bit humble,” she said. “Probably this storm is going to humble us.”
Officials expect to begin damage assessments once conditions improve.
For now, Francom said her loved ones are safe and doing what Jamaicans often do best, gathering with family and friends and facing the storm together.
She said the strength and spirit of Jamaicans gives her confidence they will pull through.
“I think they will be okay,” she said. “It’s like, people are worried probably because they don’t want to lose anything or anyone to die or anything, but just the fun of being with your family and friends and you just watch what God can do with all this stuff.”
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