Hurricane Melissa slams Jamaica; Communication failures isolate North Texans

TEXAS - Before the storm made landfall, cell service was already spotty and now that the worst has passed, the main concern for people here in Texas is getting ahold of their loved ones.

Hurricane Melissa made landfall as a category 5 storm in Jamaica on Tuesday.

Catastrophic landfall and winds

Local perspective:

Maximum sustained winds reached 185 miles per hour as it moved over the island. The Labeach family was glued to the TV, waiting to hear from their loved ones.

Marci and her husband, Roy Labeach, are from Jamaica. They own Reggae Wings & Tings restaurant in Mesquite. 

"It all happened so suddenly, because we all thought it was going to turn," said Marci.

While watching videos of the storm, Roy is brought back to when Hurricane Gilbert, a category 4 storm, hit the island in the 1980s.

"To experience that was something else. So now that I’m seeing this, it’s just taking me right back," said Roy.

Labeach's family is in Kingston and St. Catherine, on the eastern side of the island. Areas that didn’t get a direct hit from the worst winds, but the area’s still facing widespread power outages, flooding, and destruction from the storm. 

Anxiety rises for North Texas families

What they're saying:

The west part of the island took a direct hit, with maximum wind speeds at 185 miles per hour.

The tourist destination of Montego Bay took a lashing, and so did Runaway Bay Beach. That's where Granbury residents Jack and Gloria Martin are on vacation.

Glorida and Jack Martin

Their daughters, Becky Gibson and Shawna Winters, are now worried about how their parents will get home.

"It's just, it's really scary, it's hard," said Winters. "Watching the coverage and not knowing what to expect and when we're going to get to talk to them and how we're going to get them home. Just, you know, in case the airports aren't working, it's just, it's a lot. How we're going to get them meds, yeah, and not knowing when they're actually going to get to come home is pretty terrible."  

Tourists stranded, communication lost.

Dig deeper:

Gibson and Winters told their parents to update their voicemail message if cell service goes out. 

"We just hope that Jamaica, everybody in Jamaica right now, that God said puts a blanket over them," they said.

The Labeach's are praying for the same. 

"This is everyone on the island of Jamaica. It’s not just Jamaicans that are there. We have all the visitors. We pray for their safety, we pray that Jamaica, as usual, will rebound because we’re known for that, the resilience in Jamaica," said Roy.

What's next:

Hurricane Melissa was downgraded to a category 4 as it crossed Jamaica. It’s expected to maintain hurricane status as it slams into Cuba sometime tomorrow.