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- Updates from the Islands -- - Jamaica - - |
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| - Ref: the video I recently uploaded to you. |
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Latest news is that there are 32 dead from the hurricane, but this is not expected to be the final figure. The Video:- This is part of the road we regularly use to get to Kingston, and do our shopping. As is most obvious, it will be some time before this road is repaired, and useable again. There is an alternate road, down the "other" valley, but reports are that it is in an even worst condition: but early days, and news still coming in. Something uniquely Jamaican? Building mountain roads, in hurricane prone areas, without proper drainage for MASSIVE, monsoon levels, of rainfall. The only bit of good news, our least popular, road exit from the mountains, down to the North coast ( at Buff Bay ) is "passable", but there is NO way ( except by foot or 'bike ) to get to Kingston. There may be a way via the North coast road, to turn back inland and reach Kingston the l-o-n-g way round, but no news as to the roads being open. What you cannot really see from the video, is that alongside the main part of the washed out road, were 3 substantial buildings, the remains of one can be seen, chair awaiting a client. The whole of the other 2, gone, most unlikely there were any occupants. The buildings were all quite new, and building work was still in progress. Without any real info, they appear to be part of EITS ( Europe In The Spring ) cafe, a pleasant little place, with a restaurant on a couple of levels down the slope ( apparently still there, albeit with a lot of wind damage ) and several rental cottages. For those of you ( English! ) "in the know" it is ( was? ) a Morris Oxford, date unknown, but 1960's? and not seen in the video, but guessing it was safe; an original "Frog Eye" Austin Healey, Sprite, in bright red, but not "road legal" in Jamaica, only rarely driven. Along with the ancient VW Camper van, beloved of 60's Hippies. Locally there are several substantial communities, including the Army camp, with no access to shops or supplies ( but sure the Army camp can be supplied by helicopter!! ) I have no idea as to how they will manage. All the small, local, shops will soon run out of stocks, and have no way to restock. We checked down the valley earlier, managed to find some bread, a few days old, but OK, and there is hardly a power pole, standing ALL rural ( and much urban ) power is above ground, strung between wooden poles, and we are not expecting our power back for MANY weeks, possibly not until next year. Currently, the phones still out, local cell tower needing adjustment? Typical Jamaica: around 20 inches of rain, in 24 hours, everywhere soaked: instead of collecting rain water, and the Govt delivering, by helicopter, water purification tablets, they will only accept bottled water! The huge cost of helicopter delivery, at the expense of carrying emergency packs of food. Will keep you updated how things are "up in the Mountains". Robin Plough Blue Mountains Jamaica, |
| - Fwd: In the region of EITS Cafe | ||||||
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---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Mark Royes <mroyes at rrwgl.com> Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2025 at 18:27 Subject: In the region of EITS Cafe To: Robin Plough <robin.plough at gmail.com> |
| - Melissa |
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A few pics of the damage to my place. Not as heart rending as some of the pics from the Western areas of the Island. Still not very many, as they have no phones, power, or internet, to send them out. Local reports are trickling in, only a few so far, but almost no good news from Western parts. Whole communities wiped off the map, several deaths reported, so far, expecting more, unfortunately. Reports from Kingston, and some of the Eastern parts of the Island, nowhere near as bad as from the West. If I thought praying could help, I would be on my knees praying, now. Never expecting something like this to happen, I have no "before" pics to compare with.  The Mahoes marking the edge of my property, stripped almost completely leafless. They are trees with flexible trunks, and easily lose their leaves to protect the whole tree. Our water comes a spring at the extreme left of the pic, up in the mountain. The water, hard as hell, makes superb coffee; filtered through 1,500 feet of Limestone, as clean and pure as water can get! To the right of the pic, towering over the place, John Crow Peak at 5,764 feet, the fifth highest of the Blue Mountain peaks. The Lime tree, lower left, untouched; the one just out of frame to the right, destroyed.  Damaged window and my old ( redundant ) TV dish, blown off its pole and stuck at the back of the house. The Night Jasmine ( wonderful scent at night when in flower ) in the foreground, blown to bits, but half of it is still there, and it is a plant that will regrow VERY quickly. The bit of earth in the foreground was a few inches deep in broken plant/tree bits before we swept it up: the larger branches we cleared were almost too much for the dogs to get past, and find a bit of grass. The planter survived, unharmed, and has our next generation of Amaryllis ( Hippeastrum ) beautiful red lilies, which will be ready for planting out, next April.  Ben, checking out the new layout of his domain, the other two, asleep ( or, as they call it "relaxed guarding status". Couple of days ago, there were 2 pine trees there! Guava tree snapped off, and the Heliconia well mashed up. We are surprised that the wooden fence survived, unharmed. Very difficult to see, but to the left of the hound, is a patch of Pineapples, completely unaffected by the winds.  Open sky, where there used to be a huge Juniper tree, with a lovely red ( look close, a couple of blooms visible ) Bougainvillea growing through it. An almost fully demolished Banana tree, and the bashed up remains of the very old, small TV dish. The village visible in the background, is Section; have not heard yet, but it appears they were protected from the worst of the wind that we got. Will update further, if there is anything else of interest. Robin Plough Jamaican Blue Mountains. |
| - More places to donate |
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Two more worthy causes to donate to: Support Jamaica, initiated by Jamaican government: https://supportjamaica.gov.jm/. American Friends of Jamaica: https://theafj.app.neoncrm.com/forms/afj-disaster-relief-fund Be careful where you donate to. There are always some crooks taking advantage of the situation. USA Today also posted an extensive list: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/10/29/hurricane-melissa-caribbean-how-to-help/86961066007/ |
| - The damage is extensive. |
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Hello, The damage from Black River to Montego Bay is widespread where the center of the hurricane passed through. Roofs gone, landslides, mud and water in people's houses, damaged vehicles, it's a nightmare out there. You can check the Prime Ministers social media pages to see: St. James: St. Elizabeth: The mobile Internet connection is unstable. No electricity or water here. The damage is not as extensive in my area, some zinc roofs damaged and trees in the road. But we are holding up. Mr. K. Maragh Clarendon Distillers Ltd. Monymusk P.O. |
| - Fwd: Recommended relief orgs with low overhead costs |
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David forwarded me the following relief organizations, see below. I also just saw on our local news an interview with the non-profit Shelterbox. Apparently they have "shelter" and other helpful things, like solar, staged in Barbados which they are trying to get to Jamaica. https://shelterbox.org/ If you know of others, esp. local ones, let me know and I will post. See David's recommendations below.
Here are some I have posted earlier (plus some new ones): ---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: David Colburn Date: Wed, Oct 29, 2025 at 9:16 AM These take little to zero from donations for admin - they raise those funds separately: https://www.samaritanspurse.org/donation-items/hurricane-melissa-relief/ https://www.salvationarmyusa.org/disaster-relief/ https://www.sendrelief.org/projects/hurricane-melissa/ HTH's, David |
| - Re: Inside Melissa. |
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Post melissa, from Jamaica Our lovely Blue Mountains, all turned brown, with a layer of "dead" green leaves lying in piles under the leafless trees, and the snapped off trunks of the beautiful trees now destroyed. It started yesterday, the whole house boarded up, doors all locked as we wait for it to start. Through the few bits of glass left open to leave us a view outside: nothing, darkness, Stygian darkness, no light anywhere, just a candle on my desk, saving the batteries in the torches. Inside the storm; scary rather than frightening, massive gusts of wind driving sheets of rain, directly at the back of the house. The noise, LOUD: it started slowly, the wind whistling around the place, over about an hour, the sound changing to the roar of powerful wind gusts, the "smack" of rain driven hard against the wooden boards over the windows, the thump as some bit of debris hits the outer, wooden walls of the house. The rain almost parallel to the ground, finding every last crack or hole in the building ( many more than I realised, so many new ones appearing since the last storm, a mere cat 1 ). A sudden loud banging from downstairs, grab a light and take a look, expecting some dire emergency repairs needed, but just a door opened and swinging in the wind, closed it tight, and jammed it shut with the spare cylinder of cooking gas. A scratching noise from behind my computer desk, first thought, a rat ( there are loads of them around; grey "tree" rats, nothing like those disgusting sewer rats, around towns. A good rat hunt, dogs love it!! ) that had come inside to escape the rains: after several good looks, turns out to be a broken tree branch, rubbing along the outside wall, with the wind. All 3 dogs upset, and very clingy, at least there was no thunder, which really scares them: we all ate early, and then could do nothing but wait. As the night drew on, the noise got louder, the whole house shuddering with every blast of wind ( NO problem; the house was built to be "flexible" and withstand earthquakes ). A sudden break in the storm, everything goes eerily quiet, no wind, no rain, just the "dweep dweep" of one of the little toads that frequent the area; not everyone sent into panic mode by the worst possible weather! A couple of moments later, it all starts again. Tired out with the stress and racing around getting prepared, so an early night, doggies still being "clingy", so they all join me on my bed. They are good hounds, and after many years ( Rufus, 10 years, the others, Bill and Ben brothers, coming up to 6 ) they had not forgotten to use the newspaper "toilet" they were originally house trained on: as all the exits are tightly closed. Get into bed, with the storm still raging, every slight lapse in the noise, getting up our hopes that it is all dying away. But not, fall asleep with full storm raging. Wake up at 3.00am, almost deathly quiet: pause and listen, a low rustling of blown downed vegetation as a light gust catches them: get up and open the back door for the dogs to go out: really hard to open with all the piled up detritus blown there by the winds. Oh so nice to get a lungful of fresh air, not the claustrophobic smoke from the oil lamp and the candle. Back to bed, to await the horrors that will be on display when the sun rises. Up early to survey the horrors, see what is gone, and what is left. Gone: a mature pine tree that would shade the back veranda from the early afternoon sun; gone, a massive Juniper tree, with a lovely deep red Bougainvillea growing through it, and a smaller, mature Guava tree, all the Banana trees near the house ( about 8 ). Have yet to check the lower part of the farm. Several Brugmansia ( Angels trumpets ) and Night Jasmine bushes, badly damaged, but will quickly recover. My old ( pre-internet ) TV dish, blown off its pole, and now sitting, against the back wall ( no loss; was going to have to pay to get rid of it ). All the trees and plants along the driveway above the house, broken and/or damaged. First glance at the coffee plantation ( down the North facing side of the plantation, and protected from these southerly winds, which is all we got from Melissa ). Lost a load of oranges, which were just beginning to ripen, and should have been ready for Christmas, but, our Pineapples seem to be virtually untouched ( tough little buggers!! ). I hear from friends that Kingston hardly has any problems, apart from ( the inevitable ) loss of utilities, a hopeful bit of news, maybe the roads will soon be open. If I ration the generator fuel, and keep the freezer frozed, we have sufficient of everything to last a full 2 weeks, and then a week more on "emergency" supplies: but then the hounds start to suffer, and get less than their "favourites" in the way of feed. Will update if there is anything else of interest. Robin Plough Blue Mountains Jamaica. |
| - She's here! |
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Hello! We are experiencing intermittent hurricane force winds in Clarendon along with heavy rainfall. No electricity or water. The eye of the hurricane will make landfall in about 2 to 3hrs. Latest update for the hurricane, the winds are at 180 MPH! Some live cameras you can check to see the current conditions on some parts of the island. Stay safe! Mr. K. Maragh Clarendon Distillers Ltd. Monymusk P.O. |
| - Re: Inside Melissa. |
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Continued:- We have all been watching Melissa meandering around the Caribbean for several days. But the most frustrating thing is the uncertainty, none of the forecasts/models giving enough info to plan on. The first real "signs" coming on the 24th ( last Friday ), clouds heavier than usual, in the absence of any thunder/lightening. Fortunately, "just-in-case" we did a load of extra, top-up shopping, and should be able to last, in total isolation, for 2 weeks; only thing we are short of is the fresh meat for the dogs, so they might have to go on their least favourite food: tinned dog food, our emergency stock. Friday, heavy, overcast, and 2 inches of rain, much cooler than expected this time of year, even at 3,500 feet, up in the Blue Mountains. Saturday/Sunday; pretty much the same, but the forecasts beginning to worry us, it is just sitting South East of Kingston, not doing much, but "feed" on the warm waters, and getting stronger. Another 7.5 inches of rain, rather than any heavy rain, intermittent showers, but over 2 whole days. Most unusual for this area, raining at night. Later on Sunday, and time to get prepared, up with the hurricane boards ( all pre-cut plywood boards, saved from the last hurricane ) and all the windows covered; transforming my light, airy, home; into a troglodytes cave home, only one door left open for the dogs to go out. They were all house trained with old newspapers, and we can only hope they will remember, as the time comes. Wander around the house and garden checking everything, all items that might blow away, put inside or in the shed. Vulnerable plants tied up and protected as best as possible. Go around and double check the window boards, top up the generator ( cannot use it until the storm is over, as wind blow rain can destroy it ) ensure the car windows are all fully closed, and try my hardest not to over-worry about the impending, possible, disaster. Latest news comes on the TV, cat 5 confirmed; take a serious, close look at the exact track. Looking a little bit better for us, up here, than some of the earlier forecasts, a little further to the West, looking like it will make landfall on the Island about 80 miles away, but there is a line of nice, 4,000 feet high mountains to protect us. I can but feel sorry for the Islanders who get hit by the worst of this very powerful storm. Forecasts giving us 6 to 12 hours before a cat 5 hurricane makes landfall around 90 miles away. Right now ( = 7.00pm EDT ) No rain, almost No wind, being so late No daylight/moonlight, either. Intermittent flickering of the mains power, the usual pre-power-loss warning. Any sudden finish to this message, probably caused by the power failing, and I only have a couple of moments "live" on the back-up battery. Up here in the mountains, not a lot of people, and probably the poorest service from the utilities. Just a normal thunderstorm takes out the phone cell tower ( usual repair time a couple of hours ), takes out the power ( usual repair time 5 to 6 hours; unless the problem includes the fuse on my big power transformer, then, almost 2 days). A Major storm ( as we are expecting now ) phones out for several days, power out for up to a full month, water out until we can get outside ( safely! ) and repair the pipe. Internet, used to be out for about 10 days; leaving us totally incommunicado for up to 10 days. We can do nothing about the phones, but having recently installed a Starlink system, we will have internet as soon as we have power from the generator. Enough of my ramblings: will update as/when. Robin Plough Coffee farmer Jamaica Blue Mountains. On Mon, 27 Oct 2025 at 18:32, Robin Plough <robin.plough at gmail.com> wrote:
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| - Fwd: current weather conditions at Constant Spring Jamaica (Northern limits of Kingston) |
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From: Anchorage <anchorage at flowja.com> Date: Mon, Oct 27, 2025 at 5:23 AM Subject: current weather conditions at Constant Spring Jamaica (Northern limits of Kingston) Hi Gert, Last night we had intermittent rain and light easterly wind. My particular location is somewhat protected from the east and round to slightly N.E. Also I note that the airport, which is right on the coast, had 25-30Knots at 100 degrees during the night steadily. The local consensus of people like myself who watch weather because of our relationship with fishing and boats seem to feel that the section of the island around Treasure Beach is likely to get the absolute worst of the Hurricane but I guess everywhere in Jamaica is going to have a tough time tonight and tomorrow. All the best, Tony Tame
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| - Fwd: [HURR] - Melissa |
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Morning, Here in Martha Brae , Trelawny we had periods of showers and wind yesterday. Last night we had periods of wind and rain. This morning so far it has been quiet with no wind or rain. I expect the outer bands to start hitting us around noon and deterioration of the weather continuing right through to Tuesday afternoon when Malissa exits the area. At present the eye is expected to go over or very near to us. Praying that it does not make that northerly turn until it is way passed Jamaica. People have been preparing for the last few days. A few hardware stores were sold out of hurricane straps! I think everyone is taking this seriously and the Government has been very proactive getting persons evacuated from the low-lying and flood prone areas Paul Muschett |
| - Category 5. |
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Good morning, Melissa is now a category 5 hurricane with winds of 160mph, moving West at 3mph and is expected to turn towards Jamaica.  (Radar image) We have been having intermittent tropical storm force winds and some heavy rains since last night. Stay safe everyone! Mr. K. Maragh Clarendon Distillers Ltd. Monymusk P.O. |
| - Melissa |
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From: Jeremy Hood-Daniel <edx111 at yahoo.com> Date: Sun, Oct 26, 2025 at 10:34 AM I am in Westmoreland on the coast just east of savlamar within 100' of the sea, everything is calm here, but overcast, light drizzle every now and then |
| - Melissa is Category 4 |
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Good day, Current conditions: wind speed at about 13mph (20.9kmh) and cloudy with no rain. According to the metservice, Eastern parishes are currently experiencing tropical storm conditions. I've noticed that the storm seems to be compact (winds don't extend too far out).  Forward movement of the storm has increased from 3 to 5mph, but still very slow. Stay safe! Mr. K. Maragh Clarendon Distillers Ltd. Monymusk P.O. |
| - Melissa will be a Category 5 storm! |
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Hello, Hurricane Melissa (Category 1 at time of writing) is forecasted to be a category 5 storm, and will be a high category 4 before making landfall on the South Coast of Jamaica. Due to the slow movement of this hurricane, there be widespread flooding and landslides. Wind damage will also affect the area around the eye of the hurricane (mostly) and the storm surge for the coast is estimated to be 10 feet or more. Current conditions at my location (Clarendon parish): Wind speed is about 18kmh (11mph). We had some showers earlier. Be safe everyone! Mr. K. Maragh Clarendon Distillers Ltd. Monymusk P.O. |
| - Melissa is on the way! |
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Hi, I've been busy preparing as best as possible and praying. The forecast is not looking good for Jamaica. Melissa is currently forecasted to be a category 4 storm in the coming days. Also with a slow moving storm like this the damage will be great. I advice everyone to take this very seriously. Current weather conditions here: slight wind with clouds in the south east. Be safe! Mr. K. Maragh Clarendon Distillers Ltd. Monymusk P.O. |
| - Major Hurricane is possible for Jamaica |
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Good morning, Tropical Storm Melissa is moving NW at 5 mph (8.04kmh) at 7am EST. Current conditions for Jamaica: cloudy in the South and SE areas.  (looking towards the Southeast)  The clouds are slowly moving over. We are keeping a close eye on the storm, the potential for flooding and high winds are increasing. Keep safe! Mr. K. Maragh Clarendon Distillers Ltd. Monymusk P.O. |
| - The uncertainty though. |
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Hi, It seems, Tropical Storm Melissa can't make up her mind. Look at that cone, it's just a circle at this point.  In any case, Melissa will be very close to Jamaica and the rain and wind potential is increasing. Keep a close eye on this one, and be safe. Mr. K. Maragh Clarendon Distillers Ltd. Monymusk P.O. |
| - Tropical Storm Melissa! |
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Hi, At time of writing this, Tropical Storm Melissa's track is still uncertain, it is forecast to be a hurricane as it moves closer to Jamaica and Haiti. Heavy rains and flooding are definitely possible. We are currently under a Tropical Storm Watch and that will change in the coming days. We are indeed keeping an eye on this storm as it meanders towards us. I will try to post updates as much as possible. Keep safe! Mr. K. Maragh Clarendon Distillers Ltd. Monymusk P.O. |
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