Hotel lockdowns and honeymoon hit as Britons caught up in Hurricane Melissa

For Rob Cuff and his wife Leah, their honeymoon in Jamaica comes to an uncertain end with the arrival of Hurricane Melissa, the strongest storm to hit the Caribbean island in modern history.

“I didn’t get much sleep last night as I was keeping my eyes open to see if the storm was coming,” Mr Cuff told the BBC from Montego Bay.

They are among UK citizens on the island bracing themselves for the strongest storm ever to hit Jamaica.

The couple are due to return to England on Wednesday but the possibility of severe flooding from the storm has left this uncertain.

Hurricane Melissa is predicted to bring “catastrophic and life-threatening conditions” and make landfall with winds of up to 297 km per hour.

Some forecasters say the storm may remain in category five when it reaches the island in the coming hours.

Mr Cuff, from Telford, said “their hotel was absolutely brilliant, they boarded up the windows, taped the windows and took care of us”.

He added: “Last night we had to leave our rooms and go to a safer building nearby.”

The couple aren’t the only Brits celebrating a major milestone in Jamaica.

Rebecca Chapman is in Jamaica for her 25th wedding anniversary and told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that she and her family were told not to leave their hotel room.

“There’s a weird roar, like it’s coming from the sea. It’s really weird, like something is coming. Everything went quiet because the birds were all gone. It’s like a ghost town here,” he said.

Megan Barry, a primary school teacher from west London, is currently in Montego Bay. He flew to Jamaica for a friend’s birthday on Saturday.

He told the BBC that the hotel he was in was quarantined on Monday night and they were advised to put mattresses in front of the windows. They also packed their bags in case they needed to be evacuated.

Another British family says they prepared a “shelter” in the bathroom of their hotel room with food, drink, spare clothes and bedding.

Brian Johnson, who was on vacation with his wife and family, said they were focused on getting through this situation without any damage.

“If we needed help at any time during the main storm, it’s unlikely we’d be available to help, so we’re essentially on our own.”

He said they were extremely grateful to their local Jamaican hosts and staff, many of whom stayed at the hotel to support guests even though they had families and property to care for.

Andrew Brearley and his wife Julia from Manchester came to Montego Bay for their 25th wedding anniversary. Their hotel is just 182 m (600 ft) from the beach. A beautiful sight has now become a constant reminder of what is coming.

“I just want to come out the other side of this storm,” he says, sitting in the bathroom of their hotel.

Despite such uncertain times, they, like Mr Johnson, say the sense of community around the hotel remains strong.

“The staff have been fantastic, they have shown no signs of despair, they are doing everything they can to make sure they and we are safe. Workers were given the option to leave or stay in the hotel and most stayed.”

Meanwhile, David Rowe and his family decided to abandon their holiday in Montego Bay early due to the storm and fly to Hertfordshire on Monday.

“On Saturday morning we decided that for the safety of the children we had to go home no matter what,” he told the BBC.

“We can’t believe that when we set out on Sunday there were planes full of holidaymakers landing.”

“It was an emotional time,” Mr. Rowe said, adding that “he felt for everyone” still in Jamaica.

As well as British holidaymakers, the BBC also spoke to Britons anxiously watching from a distance as their loved ones prepare to make an impact.

Among them is Jodi Jenny, who now lives in Northamptonshire but grew up in St Mary, Jamaica, and has loved ones, including her grandfather, who still live there.

Although the country is used to storms, he says he can’t remember a storm this bad since Hurricane Gilbert, which killed more than 300 people when it hit Jamaica in the 1980s.

“It’s a bad situation,” Ms Jenny told BBC Radio Northampton.

“It’s so hard. You can’t do anything about it.”

Donnalee Ellis is a care worker in London and is also concerned about her family living in the Manchester area.

Like Miss Jenny, she was in Jamaica for Hurricane Gilbert and said the experience was “terrible” “with so much rain and wind and houses destroyed.”

“Gilbert was a lower category hurricane than Melissa, so this is very scary.”

Beverly Lindsay is president of the UK-based Jamaican Citizens Association and says everyone is praying for those affected by the hurricane.

He told BBC Radio 5Live: “We’re worried about our families and friends. The worst part is that we’ve lost contact at the moment so we can’t call to find out what’s going on at the moment.”

Dr Lindsay added that Jamaica had been lucky in the past, only catching the tail of some major storms, but the country now tends to be hit by hurricanes every 37 years; first by Hurricane Charlie in 1951 and then by Hurricane Gilbert in 1988.

Jamaica’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Alexander Williams, expects the damage to be more serious than Gilbert’s.

Hurricane recovery will depend not only on disaster response plans, emergency funds and insurance, but also on overseas donations from the public, he says.

“We are coordinating the response to the disaster here at the High Commission. We will be setting up points across the UK where people can go and donate based on the list of needs that is currently being developed.”

British Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper said that 24-hour consular service will be provided to British citizens in Jamaica and that a special crisis center has been established in the foreign office to assist in this regard.

Speaking in the House of Commons, he told MPs: “There are 50,000 dual nationals living in Jamaica, with up to 8,000 British nationals traveling or holidaying there.

“We are ready to help and respond.”

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We understand how worrying the developments in Jamaica are for British citizens and their families.

“The safety and security of British nationals is our top priority and we therefore urge all British nationals in Jamaica to follow the guidance of local authorities and notify us of their presence to receive updates.”

A spokesman for travel company Tui said its teams were working to support customers affected by the cyclone.

“We understand this is a troubling time and ask customers currently in Jamaica to continue to follow the advice of local authorities and resort teams.”

With additional reporting by Rozina Sini, Andree Massiah and Alex Emery.