HOUSTON \u2013 A Houston woman narrowly avoided the brunt of Hurricane Melissa after leaving Jamaica on one of the last flights out of the island before the storm made landfall.<\/p>\n
Monica McNeil, the mother of former KPRC 2 news anchor Rachel McNeil, has lived in Houston for more than 40 years. She is originally from Jamaica and had just returned from visiting family when the Category 5 hurricane struck.<\/p>\n
McNeil said her trip had been planned months in advance with friends who invited her to visit.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was planned by some friends of mine that invited me, and I thought, hey, why not? That\u2019s a good time to go, because I\u2019m always very aware of rainy season or hurricane season, and that usually ends the end of September,\u201d said McNeil. \u201cSo we decided to go mid-October.\u201d<\/p>\n
After spending nearly a week in Montego Bay, McNeil headed to Kingston to see family, just as news of Hurricane Melissa began spreading.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was during the trip that I heard about the hurricane coming,\u201d said McNeil. \u201cWhen I arrived in Kingston, I saw the lines to the grocery store. Most of the restaurants were closed and I said, \u2018what the heck is happening?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
McNeil left Kingston and spent the night in Ocho Rios before catching a flight out of Montego Bay on Saturday.<\/p>\n
When her plane landed in Houston, McNeil said, everybody was cheering because it was frightening what was happening.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u201cI have never been so happy to leave Jamaica,\u201d she said. \u201cI love Jamaica, it\u2019s my home country, and it was the one time I was happy to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
McNeil described how her family on the island was preparing for the worst.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy brother was boarding up windows and they were talking about where they\u2019re gonna huddle when the storm comes,\u201d McNeil said. \u201cThe good thing with Jamaica is most of the homes are built with concrete, but then you have the window issue, and windows do break, shatter, and fly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday as a category 5 storm. As of Tuesday night, Melissa is now a category three storm headed towards Cuba.<\/p>\n
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