Horsham Family Stranded As Hurricane Melissa Batters Jamaica: Report

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — As Hurricane Melissa nears landfall in Jamaica, a family from Montgomery County who traveled there is now hunkered down, hoping to ride out the storm.

Kimmy Small of Horsham Township traveled to the island with 13 family members for her niece's 30th birthday party in Montego Bay.

"We were officially on lockdown as of yesterday and were not allowed to come out of our rooms," Small said in a Zoom interview on Monday afternoon, Action News 6 reported.. "Today, they served us breakfast in our rooms and made an announcement they could come to the buffet between 11 and 2."

Action News said that the flight home for Small and her family was originally scheduled for Monday, but the airport closed on Saturday.

The Category 5 storm is the strongest hurricane on record to hit Jamaica since Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. Winds are reported as high as 175 mph, and landfall was expected in Jamaica on Tuesday morning before the storm's path heads toward Cuba.

"It kind of mimics the Titanic. Everybody was going to the ball, getting ready, not knowing what was about to hit. So I think it's mixed," she told Action News. "There's birthdays here, so they're singing happy birthday; some people are laughing and gallivanting; some people are very worried. It's mixed." Small said.

On Tuesday morning, Melissa was centered about 55 miles south-southeast of Negril, Jamaica, and about 265 miles southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba. The system had maximum sustained winds of 175 mph and was moving north-northeast at 7 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Colin Bogle, a Mercy Corps advisor based near Kingston, said most families are sheltering in place despite the government ordering evacuations in flood-prone communities.

Melissa also is expected to make landfall in eastern Cuba late Tuesday as a powerful hurricane. Cuban officials said Monday that they were evacuating more than 600,000 people from the region, including Santiago, the island’s second-largest city.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.