Jamaican natives living in Indy fear for their country as Hurricane Melissa rages on

INDIANAPOLIS — “We have an order for three dozen frozen,” Stefan Seung asked a customer from his kitchen.

The customer nods. In the same breath, Seung pops his signature Jamaican patties into a white paper bag and hands them across the counter. 

The Tuesday lunch rush at Patties of Jamaica is enough to keep his hands busy, but his mind is elsewhere. 

”I don’t know how they’re going to handle,” Seung said about Hurricane Melissa. “Honestly, that sounds horrific.”

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday afternoon as a Category 5 Hurricane. People there have been sheltering and preparing for the catastrophic damage that they’re now seeing.

Here at home, Seung is left scared of what will happen to his native country and his family members left behind. 

Graham Levy, owner of Da Blue Lagoon restaurant, is in a similar boat. Although he left the island in the 90s, his brother, sister, aunts and uncles still live there.

”I’ve been trying to get a hold of my sister [but] haven’t been able to,” Levy said. 

Although most of his family is in the northeastern-most parish — which he said is the safest place to be — Levy’s sister lives in the direct path of the storm.

The flash flooding, landslides and raging winds of Melissa are bringing Levy a sense of deja vu. He was just 18 when Hurricane Gilbert devastated Jamaica. 

“It was terrifying, horrific,” Levy said. “ … I remember looking up at the sky, like our whole roof was taken off.”

Levy said he remembers it taking several months to rebuild after the 1988 storm. He said with Melissa — likely to be Jamaica’s most intense landfall on record — it’s hard to imagine what the recovery process and timeline will be. He’s especially worried about popular tourist spots which bring in most of the country’s revenue.

“Years that have been spent, decades that have been spent building up these areas could all be wiped away in an instant,” Levy said.

Hoosiers here are left hoping for the best, but feeling helpless for the countless people preparing for the worst.

“No matter where it happens, if it happens in Los Angeles or Louisiana or Florida, you have sympathy for those people,” Seung said. 

A spokesperson for the Indiana chapter of Red Cross said the American Red Cross is closely coordinating with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to understand the effects of Hurricane Melissa and how they can best support those impacted in the coming weeks.

“Hopefully we’re not alone and will have the support and help of other nations to recover,” Levy said.