‘It’s my first hurricane' - Antiguan visitor in Manchester braces for Hurricane Melissa

Sixty-one-year-old Barbara Mason has never experienced a hurricane. The Antiguan who has lived in the United States for more than 30 years, said she has never been in either country during a hurricane.

She recently came to Jamaica for a family event and is nervously excited about witnessing Hurricane Melissa, whose outer bands are already battering eastern Jamaican with heavy rain and strong winds.

“It's my first time ever, even seeing the sea like this right now,” she said while pointing to the rising tides on the beach in Alligator Pond, a popular fishing community on Jamaica's southern coast, in Manchester.

“When I was in the United States, they would send me pictures of the hurricane and all the damage it did in Antigua, but I've never been there. I’ve never even seen a slight hurricane, maybe some strong winds,” she added.

Category 4 Hurricane Melissa is expected to make landfall in Jamaica on Monday night or Tuesday morning, and could dump more than 30 inches of rain on the island, roughly the height of an average car door.

Authorities have warned of catastrophic flooding and landslides. Sections of the island are already experiencing rainfall. Parishes anticipated to be severely affected include Clarendon, parts of St Catherine, Kingston, and the western parts of St Thomas.

Mason said she is staying in Plowden, Manchester with relatives and she is optimistic that they will endure the storm.

“I'm a little leery but they live in a brick house so I think I'll be fine. And its two floors so even if thr roof goes off, we have the bottom one,” she said.

- Sashana Small

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