Keitho Nembhard, a hotelier at the Grand Palladium Hotel in Lucea, Jamaica, said that Hurricane Melissa left the island’s northwest tip in ruins.
“The devastation around is significant,” Nembhard told CNN. “Lots of downed trees, lots of debris, damage to properties, lots of roofs have blown off.”
Numerous staff members are still unable to contact relatives or make it home due to downed communication lines and blocked roads, Nembhard added.
On Tuesday night, the hotelier sheltered in place at the Grand Palladium with other employees and around 700 guests.
“It was horrible,” Nembhard said. “It was very frightening. You could see massive waves, coming ashore, high as between 13 to 15 feet. Lots of water falling around us. But what we saw during that was our team members and our management team stood firm, trying to ensure some level of safety and security for everyone involved as we hunkered down and supported each other.”
Today, residents and tourists alike are busy helping others in Melissa’s aftermath, Nembhard said.
“What I’m seeing currently is a resilient set of people, a lot of Jamaicans are out, assisting each other to rebuild the day after the storm,” he said. “We are already rebuilding. We’re putting over Bob Marley music. We’re trying to work best to get through to our relatives and friends, and at the same time, we are holding together.”
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