ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A Central Florida family says they can’t get back home from Jamaica and have been stuck there since Hurricane Melissa made landfall on the island.
Diane McCalla and her Aunt Monica Gray spoke with FOX 35 Orlando from the damaged resort in Montego Bay that has now turned into an emergency shelter. After hearing the Florida Governor announce more than two dozen rescues of Floridians in Jamaica, they’re hoping to get help too.
“Send a plane, send a bus, send everything. We need to get our people home,” said Gray. Her sister has stage 4 breast cancer and needs to get back to Orlando for her chemotherapy treatment. “She’s in a lot of pain. Her medicine has run out for nausea medicine. She’s in severe pain. She could barely get out of bed when she’s hot. She’s exhausted,” explained another family member. “She has her treatment in the next two days.”
THE RESCUES SO FAR:
A rescue plane with 28 Floridians who were in Jamaica landed at Tampa International Airport on Saturday – days after Hurricane Melissa struck the Caribbean island, Gov. Ron DeSantis said. In a news release, DeSantis said evacuation efforts began on Halloween. The plane departed Jamaica on Saturday morning and landed in Tampa on Saturday afternoon.
HURRICANE MELISSA:
Hurricane Melissa rapidly intensified into a strong, powerful, and destructive Category 5 hurricane before making landfall on the western side of Jamaica. It then made landfalls over Cuba and the Bahamas. Deaths have been reported in Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, according to FOX Weather.