A father-of-three has described the “unbearable” moment the centre of Hurricane Melissa passed over his hotel room in Jamaica where his family had barricaded themselves in.
The category 5 storm hit the south west of the Caribbean island earlier bringing catastrophic wind speeds of 185 mph (295 km/h) and risks of flash flooding.
Kyle Holmes, from Bolton, was visiting Jamaica with his wife and young daughters, aged 7, 10, and 12, for a family wedding.
He told the BBC they were forced to take shelter at their hotel in Lucea in the north west of the island and have no idea when they will be able to get home.
Mr Holmes told BBC Radio Manchester earlier the centre of the storm had passed close by the hotel.
He said the windows and balconies had started to rattle and “everything was smashing against the building”.
The hotel now looks like “a disaster zone” said Mr Holmes, who added his family are now safe after the “worst experience ever”.
Storm surges of 13 feet (3.9m) above ground level are expected on the island, in addition to large and destructive waves.
Likewise, a third of the island is experiencing power cuts, says Jamaica’s Energy Minister Daryl Vaz, with around 240,000 customers already without access to electricity.
Kyle HolmesMr Holmes had travelled to the Grand Palladium Resort, in the town of Lucea, for his mum’s wedding, and said the time of the ceremony had to be brought forward so it was not impacted by the weather.
But by the time the day was over, the wind speeds had begun to rise.
Mr Holmes said: “The kids are panicking and so it’s emotional, so I’m trying to make sure they don’t worry, while trying to keep it together for myself.
He said he has barricaded the windows to the hotel room by placing all the furniture against the windows.
“We’ve pulled mattresses off the bed and into the corner of the room, before putting the bed frame against the window,” he said.
Kyle HolmesHe told the BBC the family had huddled together on the floor on mattresses next to the bathroom.
When asked whether he knew when they could get back to the UK, Mr Holmes said: “We were supposed to be flying back tomorrow afternoon at 15:30.
“But the president of the airport has said it won’t be open until Thursday.
“They’ll do checks tomorrow but they don’t know the extent of the damage until they’ve checked it.”
