Jamaican community in Brooklyn prays for safety of relatives impacted by Hurricane Melissa
CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn (WABC) -- With Hurricane Melissa expected to make landfall in Jamaica early Tuesday morning, those on the island are being warned to prepare for catastrophic wind, relentless rain and record storm surge.
It is a deeply unsettling time for New York City's Jamaican community, many of whom are praying for the best as their loved ones on the island brace for the hurricane.
For many Jamaicans, concerns about Melissa remind them of another storm: Hurricane Gilbert.
"A lot of these people have lived through Gilbert and they know what's about to come worse," said Michelle Robinson, an attorney.
Hurricane Gilbert caused catastrophic damage in Jamaica in 1988. The Category 5 storm would go down as the most destructive storm to ever hit the country.
Many worry that Hurricane Melissa could match, if not exceed, the Gilbert's destruction.
"The streets are very quiet, and I will tell you that if they weren't serious, you would see people driving up and down the streets," Robinson said.
Robinson is on the island right now, has offices and homes in both Jamaica and Brooklyn. Robinson shared videos with Eyewitness News of outside her apartment in Kingston, Jamaica around 7 a.m. on Monday. By midday, things had deteriorated.
"Just a couple of weeks before, we had a really nice rainfall, which caused water to back up on the ground level that I'm at, and water came in," Robinson said.
The warm waters of the Caribbean are fueling the monster system.
Hurricane Melissa has already shown the region what she's made of, packing winds of at least 160 miles per hour. The hurricane is expected to make landfall in the central and western part of Jamaica on Tuesday morning.
The prime minister has already signed evacuation orders for several communities along the south coast.
"No one can say that the government was not forward in giving the information to persons who are in areas of risk. You have been warned," Prime Minister Andrew Holness said.
Vinetta McIntosh is closely monitoring things back home in Jamaica from her restaurant in Crown Heights.
"It cannot prepare because there are a lot of gullies, a lot of places where flooding and Falmouth is pretty low," McIntosh said.
Falmouth, Jamaica is where McIntosh's brand new home is on the island, but she's not worried since it's made of cinder blocks. McIntosh says there's only one thing left to do.
"Even when I go to church on Sunday, I pray, write up requests and ask for prayer for the whole country, the island," McIntosh said.
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