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PHOENIX - Hurricane Melissa has become a nightmare for two Arizona friends who were unable to get off the Caribbean island in time, joining countless other residents with deep ties to the region now anxiously awaiting news.
What we know:
The life-threatening storm has stranded Chandler residents Alexis Maldonado and Tavianna Smith, whose flight back from their Jamaican vacation, originally scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 25, was canceled.
"I’ve never experienced a hurricane, let alone a Category 5," Maldonado said from Montego Bay. "I live in Arizona. The most I’ve dealt with is a dust storm. We’ve barricaded our balcony door with our mattress and furniture."
The two friends, showing the visual alarm of vicious winds, said they planned to ride out the worst of the storm Tuesday night and hope to fly out Thursday.
"On the phone with our airlines for hours. It’s just been a nightmare," Smith said.
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A Community Watches and Waits
Arizona has strong connections to the Caribbean island, leaving many Arizonans worried about their loved ones as the island faces a storm some say is unprecedented.
The island’s perilous situation hits close to home for Chris Lyons, owner of Ocho Rios Jerk Spot in Phoenix and Goodyear. The kitchen is usually a source of smiles for Lyons, who says, "When you go to Jamaica they give you a slab of jerk chicken in one hand and a bottle of rum punch in the other hand."
Between taking orders, Lyons has been calling his mother back home.
Chris Lyons, owner of Ocho Rios Jerk Spot
‘I think I’m more worried’
"She’s more jovial than I am. I think I’m more worried than she is," Lyons said.
He added that a storm this big and widespread touches everyone. "For me, being a Jamaican, it doesn’t matter what happened, I still be affected."
Despite the danger, Lyons said his family is staying in good spirits, reflecting the country's resiliency.
"Knowing Jamaica, they make light at every opportunity they can," he said. "I wouldn’t be surprised if you see a video surfacing somewhere on the web ... Somebody outside in the hurricane dancing because that’s what Jamaica does, they put a smile on everything."