Like many residents across Jamaica, writer and Kingston resident Kwame McPherson has remained at home since Hurricane Melissa made landfall in the country on Tuesday.
From sensing the storm’s force through the winds and sounds in his home, he compared Melissa’s impact on Jamaica and the wider region to “a boxing match,” with multiple rounds.
“In the first round, before Melissa actually even ventured into Jamaica, we had a lot of wind and rain, and it was very, very ferocious – very vicious. And that’s when we got the introduction to Melissa. When Melissa hit, then it was another round, and that’s when it got even more intense,” he told CNN’s Rosemary Church.
“As she’s leaving, we’re still having a lot of wind and rain. So it’s almost like we had three rounds of Melissa over a period of three days,” he added.
McPherson counts himself lucky so far with uninterrupted electricity and internet, though he feels like he can’t comprehend the scale of the hurricane’s destruction from inside.
“So until a couple of days down the line … will we be able to actually know what’s happening elsewhere,” he said.
“I do have a feeling that the destruction, the devastation, would have been widespread, especially to the west-central and to the west of the island because of the intensity of the storm itself.”