MONTEGO BAY, JAMAICA — Valley residents who couldn’t find flights home in time are riding out one of the strongest hurricanes to make landfall in the Atlantic.
Alexis Maldonado and Tavianna Smith traveled to Montego Bay, Jamaica for Smith’s birthday last week.
They said after hearing the news of Hurricane Melissa, they tried everything over the weekend to get on a flight home to Phoenix.
“We tried, I mean, every airline, we tried different airports,” Maldonado said. "We're just stuck."
Without a way home, they stayed inside their hotel, stocking up on buffet food and water, as well as putting up mattresses and furniture against the windows per the hotel’s instructions.
“We're from the desert. Don't even know what this is,” Smith said.
Hurricane Melissa made landfall as a Category 5 storm, bringing life-threatening wind and storm surge to the island.
"We've never experienced anything like this, let alone a category 5 like, the most we dealt with is a dust storm in Arizona,” Maldonado added.
As of 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, the pair told ABC15 that they are safe and believe the worst has passed, however, they shared stark videos of the aftermath.
"I'm really scared, but I know that I'm going to get home and just keep praying for me and hopefully I get home soon,” Maldonado said.
