Meath couple still waiting on news on family in Jamaica

Louise Walsh

A Jamaican couple living in Ireland are waiting anxiously for news of family members who they have been unable to reach since Hurricane Melissa pummeled the Caribbean island.

The true extent of the devastation caused by the category five hurricane will not be known for days, especially in areas that have been submerged by flood waters.

In its aftermath, Dr Livingstone and Jean Marie Thompson were trying to make contact with some siblings they last spoke to before the hurricane hit.

The couple have been living in Ireland with their children for the last 26 years in Kells, Co Meath.

Family members he has been able to contact have told him that, although they have lived through hurricanes since childhood, they have never experienced anything like Melissa.

He is expecting large areas of the island to be without electricity for months.

"Most of the pictures and images we are seeing are from the centre of the island, which still has its mobile signals largely intact," he said.

"I've talked to a lot of my siblings, but am still waiting to hear from my brother in South Manchester, which has lost communication.

"Many homes in Mandeville - where I grew up - are completely submerged and they are not in a riverbed. It will be hard to access these areas to see the extent of the damage until waters retreat.

"The last time I was physically in a hurricane, it was a category three and my students and I were taking cover between two concrete walls in the college in Kingstown in 2004.

"It's not that the wind howls, it is that you can actually feel the force of the wind. You can feel being sucked in by the vacuum."

Jean Marie, who recently retired as deputy principal of St Mary's Special School in Navan, said being in a hurricane is an "other worldly experience".

She spoke to her brother and daughter living in the Cayman Islands two days ago, and they are not expecting to suffer much of the effects of the storm. However, she was worried when her sister could not be reached.

Thankfully, she heard from her daughter on Wednesday afternoon that her sister Sharon and her husband Lodian were ok, but she is still awaiting word from relatives in Montego Bay.

"Jamaica is like an alligator, full of mountain ridges and my sister lives in our home place on one of those ridges in St Elizabeth, which was decimated by Melissa.

"I spoke to my cousin Joan at 11pm (Irish time) last night, who said that the roof seemed to be intact but that water was coming into the house. I also spoke to my goddaughter who lives nearby and she described the situation as 'scary'.

"Where we live on the ridge, we don't worry too much about flooding, though the water can get in, but we worry about wind damage to the house. I was worried as I couldn't contact my sister, but her neighbours have a generator and messaged my daughter to let them know all is ok.

"I'm watching the ticks on WhatsApp and if I see two grey ones, I get a sense of relief that the message was delivered to loved ones. But some messages have still only one grey tick.

"Black River where my daughter went to school has been decimated and I'm very emotional about that but I'm grateful lives have been spared."