Mandeville braces for Melissa’s wrath
Residents scramble for bread, shelter and safety as hurricane closes in
Published:Tuesday | October 28, 2025 | 12:10 AMSashana Small/Staff Reporter
As heavy rain and strong winds from Hurricane Melissa battered Mandeville on Monday afternoon, Rupert Roach sat alone on a bench in the Accident and Emergency Department at the Mandeville Regional Hospital, regretting his decision to venture out.
What was meant to be a quick trip to refill his pain medication was shaping up to be an all-night stay at the hospital, much to the displeasure of the 59-year-old.
“[Mi] stranded and cya move.. Bere rain, bere water. Mi nuh know how mi a guh reach home tonight. No taxi nah run. Mi haffi go tan till day light, a di only choice mi have,” he said.
“This is more than problem; this is stress,” he added.
Hurricane Melissa – the strongest storm to threaten Jamaica this year – was a Category 5 system as of Monday afternoon, packing winds of 175 miles per hour. It is expected to cause severe infrastructural damage when it makes landfall on Tuesday, bringing up to 40 inches of rain and 13 feet of storm surge.
Roach said he took a chance coming into Mandeville because the rain wasn’t heavy earlier on and his arthritis pain was worsening. Now, stranded without food or money, he turned to a game of solitaire on his cell phone to pass the time.
“All di while a woman hurricane come ya come cause problem,” he said. “Beryl come and gone, now har sister Melissa come, a who next?”
Earlier in the day, Alton John Griffiths, one of the few people in the town of Mandeville town, was using his taxi to help get others home.
Stating that he runs the Mandeville to Maidstone route, he told The Gleaner that he was only out in the storm because he brought a community member to the hospital to visit a relative.
On his return trip, he gladly accommodated two men who were coming from Portmore, St Catherine, to their home before the rainfall and wind from the storm became more intense.
“I experienced Gilbert, and I know that this is coming and it’s going to be worse than Gilbert, so people can plan to stay home for at least three to seven days. We definitely gonna have to stay home for at least four to seven days,” he declared.
Understanding the gravity of the storm, Griffiths said he ensured that he prepared, and is hoping that his other relatives did the same.
“Mi prepare long time, but my children, none a dem nuh live with me, but I trust their mothers and I thank God for the mothers that they have that are very, very dependable; and I ask the children always to respect their mothers,” he said.
Patricia Marrett Brown has witnessed every hurricane within the last 30 years while on the job as a female assistant at the renal unit at the Mandeville Regional Hospital.
As she awaited the arrival of Hurricane Melissa , she told The Gleaner that she is not worried, and will be focusing on what she loves doing – her job.
“I enjoy it and I love it. Even on the medical floor, like [with] people who in need, I take up the clothes and I go and wash dem fi dem, and fold dem, bring dem back to them,” she said.
Meanwhile, in the town centre, a few residents hurried to make last-minute purchases – especially of one item many consider essential in any storm: bread.
“Bread is a very important part of any household. If light goes out, if gas goes out, you can purchase bread. Bread is a staple. It’s been a part of civilisation for so long,” CEO of Top Loaf Bake Shops Limited Ryan Chen said.
The bakery was one of few businesses opened in the town. Chen said although the lines are shorter today, the demand for bread has been consistent.
“We realise that there is a need in the public because we are preparing for the storm. And it has been so unpredictable that people have been purchasing supplies from last week Wednesday, Thursday. But they have run out of those supplies and people have been calling, and so all of our staff came out very, very early this morning to supply fresh bread to the public,” he said.
Garth Smith was among the customers replenishing his family’s supplies.
“We had exhausted some of the supplies [bought last week]. She (mother) told me that I had to get … two large jumbo bread,” he said, while displaying his goods.
American visitor Joel Clayton, who is staying in Albion, also made the trip into town to top up.
“It’s still available, and I don’t know [for] how long. I know that everywhere else is going to close when the hurricane gets more serious, so I would like to just get some additional things, just in case,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chen told The Gleaner that he is monitoring the storm, noting that arrangements were made to take employees back home safely, and it is highly unlikely that the shop will be open today.