New Orleans residents with ties to Jamaica pray for family in Hurricane Melissa’s path

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - At Boswell’s Jamaican Grill in Mid-City on Tuesday, the television was locked on coverage of Hurricane Melissa and the devastation the Category 5 storm was projected to unleash on Jamaica.

“I am worried. I am very worried,” Keisha Lawla said.

RELATED: Category 5 Hurricane Melissa brings flooding and catastrophic winds to Jamaica

Lawla is the supervisor at the restaurant. She was born and raised in Jamaica and is worried about her family on the island in the massive hurricane’s path.

“My mom, my dad, my aunt, my uncles, my grandma. They’re all there,” Lawla said.

Lawla’s mother captured some video of the hurricane’s early impacts. It showed heavy rain, and strong winds can be heard in the background. Lawla expects Hurricane Melissa to eclipse previous disasters in Jamaica.

“I was a young girl during (Hurricane) Gilbert, and that was a Category 4. And I remember being out of electricity for weeks. I remember the flooding, the devastation. And this one is much bigger. It’s much slower,” Lawla said.

“The wind is picking up really bad now. They got a lot of rain the last couple of days, but today is mostly wind,” Romar Smith said.

Smith was born and raised in Jamaica. He spent his high school years along coastal Mississippi and now lives in Hattiesburg. Smith says he was celebrating his honeymoon on the island in July. Now, he’s concerned about his father and other family waiting for the hurricane to pass.

“On a scale of 1-10, I’m about a nine, to be honest. I worry about the people that are homeless. I don’t know what precautions there were for those people,” Smith said.

MORE: Category 5 Hurricane Melissa brings flooding and catastrophic winds to Jamaica

With winds up to 185 mph, Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as the strongest storm to ever hit the island. Smith and Lawla can only wait for updates from relatives. Earlier Tuesday, Smith’s uncle sent him a video showing trees swaying in strong winds at their family’s home in Jamaica.

Back at Boswell’s Jamaican Grill, Lawla reflects on the local community’s embrace of the restaurant. It has been in business on Tulane Avenue for 20 years. Lawla says New Orleanians have been very supportive of her establishment, and she believes they’ll continue to do so after this latest hurricane.

“The people of New Orleans are wonderful. They have gone through it. They know what it is. They come in, they hug, they empathize,” Lawla said.

Lawla says Jamaica will likely need those kinds of resources and much more in the days and weeks ahead.

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