Jamaican Americans in the Garden State watch closely as Hurricane Melissa barrels towards the Caribbean island
Reports say this is the worst storm the island nation has ever experienced and while friends and family in Jamaica hunker down, here New Jersey all family members can do, is sit and wait.
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Dr. Donnette Green is still able to get in touch with her relatives in Kingston, Jamaica ahead of Hurricane Melissa making landfall.
News 12 was with her as she made phone calls, her cousin could be heard over the phone saying, "We’re bracing ourselves for it for later on tonight" as the rain started to fall over Kingston.
Reports say this is the worst storm the island nation has ever experienced and while friends and family in Jamaica hunker down, here New Jersey all family members can do, is sit and wait.
"We just have to pray that everyone is going to be alright and that it won’t come inland," Green said.
While Donnette checks in with relatives back home, she’s reminded of her experience during Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 which devasted the island and hopes Melissa will spare her homeland.
"In Kingston, there are sturdy homes and there are some that are not so sturdy. The zinc from the roof flies off, people trying to get to different places, it can really be a horrific scene," Green said.
Dr. Green is no stranger to getting aid where it needs to go. She’s one of the founders of the Guided Collaboration Collective; a nonprofit committed to supporting marginalized communities both domestically and internationally. The organization hosts mission trips to places like Ghana, Barbados and Jamaica. They collect goods and money to distribute to those in need. The airport in Kingston is temporarily closed but the organization has already started collecting goods. They’ve also partnered with three Golden Krust restaurants where anyone can drop off donations.
"Once we connect with our people on the ground, our organizations on the ground, and find out what the need is there we’ll make sure that we’re sending those items as soon as possible within the next week or some," Green said.
