When Hurricane Melissa tore through Jamaica as a Category 5 storm, Seymour Clarke could only watch from afar — glued to his phone as videos of flooding and destruction filled his screen and messages from family back home trickled in.

Tuesday was a long, hard day for Clarke. However, he has hope Jamaica will recover — as it has in the past.

“That’s home, and when you see so many people are gonna be suffering, that part really hurts. It really hurts,” Clarke said.

Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as one of the strongest Atlantic storms ever recorded — with winds up to 185 mph.

Deaths have been reported in Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Scrolling through that media isn’t the only reason Clarke has been glued to his phone. He’s also been constantly checking his WhatsApp group chat with his family and sneaking calls in when he can.

“I don’t have any electricity right now, but it’s fine,” one family member told Clarke.

Another described the damage she saw, saying, “St. Elizabeth is a mess. They’re gonna take a lot of time to recover.”

Clarke’s brothers and sisters, along with his nieces and nephews in Jamaica, are all OK.

As Melissa’s damage is surveyed and the death toll is finalized, Clarke said, he’s going to figure out how he can help his family and everyone else on the island.

But he knows everything will work out.

Clarke was living in Jamaica when Hurricane Gilbert hit in 1988. It was the second-strongest storm on record to make landfall at the time.

He saw Jamaica recover. So he knows it will recover again.

“At the end of the day, we’re gonna be fine. I’m not losing all hope,” Clarke said. “The sun will come out tomorrow.”

Growing up in the Vineyard District of Black River, St. Elizabeth Parish, in Jamaica instilled the work ethic and community-oriented values needed for Bobby Davis to thrive as a chef and entrepreneur in Baltimore. Looking at photos and videos shared by family members of his hometown under water and rubble has been devastating for Davis.

“I feel like somebody died,” Davis said. “I don’t recognize the place where I grew up.”

The past few days have been stressful for Davis as he tries to get through work while waiting for updates on his family’s safety. He’s especially concerned about his grandfather, who just before the storm was hospitalized following a stroke.

“We’re still waiting on information, and that’s the stressful part: the unknown,” he said.

According to the 2021 American Community Survey, there were about 7,900 Caribbean people in Baltimore, most of whom were from Jamaica, per the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.

Jamaicans in Baltimore watching the hurricane wreak havoc on their hometowns have to try to reach out to loved ones without overwhelming them, state Rep. Regina Boyce said. The state representative has been in touch with her family in Montego Bay who’ve shared a video and delayed responses due to high winds knocking out their power.

Boyce, who represents District 43A in Baltimore, isn’t too worried, though. Jamaicans are survivors, she said.

“While this has been a hurricane event greater than Gilbert, and the highest category hurricane in Jamaica’s history, Jamaica will get through this, they will recover, and they will rebuild,” Boyce said in a statement. “And we, the world and those of us in the United States, will support Jamaica in doing so.”

David Turner, the senior adviser and communications director for Gov. Wes Moore, said the state is monitoring the storm and “standing ready to support as we can.” Moore, whose great-grandparents emigrated from Jamaica to South Carolina, offered prayers for those on the island.

Maryland resident flew to Jamaica

Maryland resident Shannon Rodgers is in Jamaica after flying there with friends for her 40th birthday.

They were staying in Montego Bay, and while there was damage, their resort never lost electricity.

“We live in Maryland, and we don’t experience things like this,” Rodgers told WJZ. “There was really heavy rain, and there was damage out there.”

Rodgers said they flew into Jamaica on Friday and they’re waiting to find out when they can return to Maryland.

“We came to town for vacation, but we want to go back home too,” Rodgers said. “Emotionally, we are all over the place. We take turns crying, and we talk about our families. Emotionally, we are drained.”

WJZ is a media partner of The Banner.