Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica on Tuesday, making it one of the largest storms on record in the Atlantic Ocean.
With winds reaching speeds of up to 185 miles per hour, the Category 5 hurricane cut a destructive path through the heart of Jamaica and is described as one of the strongest Category 5 storms on record.
Shaneice and Tashna Collins are BYU-Idaho students from Jamaica. Their family weathered the devastating storm and heavily prepared for Hurricane Melissa after suffering big losses in a tropical storm just months ago.
“My mom basically packed up the whole house,” Tashna said. “She put everything important, documents in totes because the last time, she lost all of her furniture, lost everything.”
Tashna says the last storm took the roof off their mother’s home, and the odds of that happening again are very high.
“She was just starting to rebuild and get things replaced in the house and stuff like that,” Tashna said. “She just recently got her roof, and so she knows that it was a possibility that a Category 5 hurricane could make the roof come off again.”
Shaneice says hurricanes aren’t anything new to Jamaicans. Hurricane season runs from July until November, and the locals spend a lot of time preparing not only physically and materially, but spiritually.
“We pray a lot as Jamaicans,” Shaneice said. “We're a very Christian country, so I know that people were praying. Even in the videos that you see on the internet, they pray out loud and they read their scriptures together. I know that my family is doing that as well, constantly praying and studying together so that they will have the guidance of the Spirit to comfort them and also prepare them for whatever they would face.”
The sisters have had little communication with their family since the storm hit yesterday due to power outages, but they know their family is safe.
Tashna presented a very optimistic view of the storm, seeing some of the destruction as a blessing from God.
“This is a roundabout way of thinking, but maybe the Lord allowed this destruction to happen,” Tashna said. “I think it’s what I was thinking about as a Jamaican and I believe that other people too will be thinking about it similarly, or hopefully they think this is an opportunity for growth. We can build back.”
As Jamaica begins the long process of rebuilding, the Collins sisters hold onto their faith and hope, believing that even in the wake of destruction, their island’s strength and spirit will rise again.