RICHMOND, Va. β Richmond resident Chelsea Goode and her family are experiencing Hurricane Melissa firsthand after becoming stranded in Jamaica when the storm forced airport closures and disrupted travel plans.
Goode was vacationing in Negril, Jamaica with her family when Hurricane Melissa slammed the island Tuesday with intense winds and heavy rain.
The family had planned to leave Monday but remained trapped due to the storm and airport closures.
"It started with strong winds, light rain," Goode said. "We were losing electricity."
When I spoke with Goode via FaceTime around 11 a.m. Tuesday, Hurricane Melissa was approaching landfall. The resort where she was staying implemented a full lockdown Monday night, requiring all guests to remain in their rooms until the restriction is lifted.
The rain and wind began early Tuesday morning. Despite intermittent WiFi outages, Goode was able to show the conditions outside her balcony window about an hour before Melissa made landfall.
"You can literally hear the wind howling like we thought it was a cat or an animal. It is not, it is the wind," she said. "You have to take a two-hour ride away from the resort just to get back to the airport, so that's the problem we're having now."
Just before 4 p.m., Goode texted that the wind was slowing down and her family remained safe. However, they continue to worry about overnight conditions while hoping the worst has passed as they work on plans to return home to Richmond.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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