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Virginia Beach resident Nicole Burch’s recent family vacation to Jamaica turned into a harrowing experience after her parents decided to extend their trip, leaving them in the Caribbean as Hurricane Melissa wreaked havoc. Burch, who shared her story about their family trip on TikTok and has been posting updates, was born in Jamaica and has frequently traveled to the Caribbean country for the past 10 years. Her dad, Peter, makes the journey at least once a year to check on his second home there. Burch says she and her mom, Andrea, visit all-inclusive resorts whenever they land in Jamaica, but her dad had never joined them. So, she decided to book a getaway to the Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall in Montego Bay for the three of them, as well as her husband, two children and more immediate family members. “He’s been back and forth, but he’s never experienced all inclusive,” Burch tells TODAY.com about her father. “He’s an extremely funny guy, and I just knew that he would enjoy something like that, just being able to relax and eat all day long and just have fun.” The family’s worry-free trip ended when Burch and some of her other relatives decided to fly home to Virginia on Oct. 21. But her parents chose to stay an extra week to visit friends and family in the Kingston area and to check on their second home. Peter and Andrea intended to return to the U.S. on Oct. 28 before they learned that Hurricane Melissa was headed to Jamaica. Burch says she had heard “whispers” of a storm when she was abroad, but she became more concerned when she landed in the U.S. and realized Hurricane Melissa had intensified to a Category 5 storm. “We were just frantic and panicky, because where (my dad’s) house is is on a hill, and so we knew that there (were) possibilities of mudslides,” she explains. “We grew up in Kingston, so I know how the homes are built there. They’re just not all built to sustain something like that. So we were really concerned.” She shared that her parents were more calm given that they were in Jamaica when Hurricane Gilbert made landfall in 1988. Gilbert was a Category 4 hurricane with 130 mph winds, according to the National Weather Service, making it the most powerful hurricane to hit the country before Melissa. “Even though where they lived wasn’t the best community for that type of hurricane, they were able to live through it and didn’t get much damage,” Burch continues. “So they were in good spirits about (Hurricane Melissa). I guess they didn’t know the level a Category 5 could really do to where their location is.” Her parents rented a third-floor Airbnb in Kingston and prepared themselves for Hurricane Melissa’s arrival by stocking up on food and water. “As far as flooding, they’re high enough to where they don’t have to worry about the flooding. All they really had to do was prepare by making sure they had their phones charged. He had a battery pack for extra charging because they lost light the night before the hurricane actually hit,” she shares. After Hurricane Melissa made landfall on Tuesday, Oct. 28, Burch said she was able to reach parents to check on them. Her father told her that they were safe and fine. Her parents then went to their old community to check on friends and family. She is hoping to be reunited with them soon, but the catastrophic devastation from the hurricane is making their departure uncertain. “The only issue that they are having right now is that the flight for Friday that they had out of Kingston was canceled, so now I just had to rebook them another flight for Sunday,” Burch says. “We’re not sure if they’re going to be able to keep that flight. We’re not sure about the Kingston airport. We know that Montego Bay airport is destroyed. We’re just worried about them getting home.” Has the hurricane made her hesitant to travel to Jamaica in the future? “I don’t believe so,” Burch says. “I know it’s going to take some time for them to get up running again, but they’re a resilient country. They’ll be up in no time. As soon as they’re up running, we’ll be back to support the country.” She adds, “It’s my favorite place to travel to. I’m from there, so it’s, like, a bias. But also just nothing compares to the music, the vibe, the culture, and so whenever I can go, as soon as I can go, we’ll be back going.” With its deadly flooding, powerful winds of 185 mph, rainfall and power outages in Jamaica, Hurricane Melissa has become one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record and the strongest to ever hit the Caribbean country, NBC News reported. “Jamaica has gone through what I can call one of its worst experiences,” Desmond McKenzie, Jamaica’s minister of local government and community development, said. “Our infrastructure has been severely compromised. St. Elizabeth is the breadbasket of the country, and that has taken a beating. The entire Jamaica has felt the brunt of Melissa.” NBC News reported Oct. 30 that at least 36 deaths have been linked to Hurricane Melissa, which made its way to Cuba, Haiti and The Bahamas, and is now headed toward Bermuda.
