Windsor-Essex residents stranded under Hurricane Melissa
The friends used couches and mattresses to barricade their hotel room as the Category 5 hurricane hit.
Author of the article:Trevor Wilhelm
Published Oct 29, 2025 • Last updated 2 days ago • 3 minute read
Friends Keileigh Macrae from Stoney Point, left, and Aislyn Kell from Windsor, were stranded in Jamaica when Hurricane Melissa struck the island on Oct. 28, 2025.
Friends Keileigh Macrae from Stoney Point, left, and Aislyn Kell from Windsor, were stranded in Jamaica when Hurricane Melissa struck the island on Oct. 28, 2025.
As one of the strongest hurricanes in history pounded the island of Jamaica, four Windsor-Essex friends huddled in a hotel room with couches and mattresses barricading the balcony doors.
Before losing contact with the outside world, Stoney Point’s Keiliegh Macrae told the Star that panic and fear were spreading at her Montego Bay hotel.
Windows were boarded up. Damage was escalating. There were fights over food at the buffet.
“We have been issued a lockdown in our rooms and were given bags of food last night to last us today,” Macrae, 26, said Tuesday after the hurricane made landfall.
“It’s beginning to get extremely windy and shingles and debris have been flying around. We’re on the third level of our hotel building about 300 feet away from the beach. We have emergency go bags and have stocked up on food and water the last few days.”
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The friends used mattresses and furniture to barricade the balcony door of their hotel room in Jamaica as Hurricane Melissa pummelled the country on Oct. 28.
Melissa pummeled Jamaica on Tuesday, striking the island nation as a Category 5 hurricane with sustained winds of up to 298 kilometres per hour. The storm’s intensity ties it for the strongest-ever landfall in the Atlantic basin. It’s also the strongest hurricane ever to hit Jamaica.
It left about three-quarters of the island with no power. Flooding was widespread. Communications were crippled.
Homes, schools, airports, and hospitals were destroyed. Jamaica’s prime minister declared the country a disaster area.
Macrae and her husband, Devon, flew to Jamaica on Oct. 23 with best friends Aislyn Kell from Windsor and Ryan Fauteux from Belle River.
When they booked the trip, Macrae said they bought 72-hour cancellation insurance.
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The Stoney Point couple, Devon and Keileigh Macrae, and two other friends from the Windsor area were stranded in Jamaica when Hurricane Melissa struck the island.
“Unfortunately we heard about the tropical storm watch/ hurricane watch 48 hours beforehand,” she said.
“We called Sunwing and asked if there were any options for us to cancel or reschedule our trip. But they told us they were given no update or travel advisories and we basically would lose our money if we cancelled. We decided to go because we spent over $6,500 on this trip.”
After their arrival, the Canadian government issued a travel warning to “avoid all travel to Jamaica.”
“We tried to book flights to evacuate in time but we had no Sunwing representative in our hotel lobby,” said Macrae. “Unfortunately, we were too late on booking a flight before the airports closed. We are praying for everyone here, we’re very grateful for our hotel staff for taking care of us.”
She said they stockpiled as much food and water as they could, and barricaded the balcony door. Hotel employees boarded-up windows.
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A small stockpile of food that Stoney Point’s Keileigh Macrae received from her hotel in Jamaica shortly before the catastrophic tropical storm hit.
Macrae’s mother, Jodi Berg, said Wednesday morning the last contact she had with her daughter was around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. That was also about the last time the Star was able to reach her.
“They were about 50 minutes from when the eye of the storm was supposed to hit them,” said Berg.
“The winds were very high. There were 130-mile wind gusts. They’re in Trelawney Parish, which is supposed to be, according to the Jamaican president yesterday in an interview, one of four parishes that was hardest hit.”
Berg said her daughter told her they had the choice to wait out the storm in a ballroom with other people. They chose to huddle up in one of their third-floor rooms. She was worried about flooding. And the other hotel guests.
“There had already been at the buffet, like fights of people trying to get food, and they had to call security in,” said Berg. “So, she didn’t really want to be in a room with a bunch of people fighting either.”
Jenny Kell, Aislyn’s mom, told the Star she saw reports that one wing of the hotel had collapsed in the storm, and the guests were moved to an on-site shelter. But unable to reach her daughter with communications cut off, it was hard to confirm many details.
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Devon and Keileigh Macrae from Stoney Point, Aislyn Kell from Windsor, and Ryan Fauteux from Belle River were stranded in Jamaica.
“They probably have no idea of the devastation outside yet,” said Kell. “The airport at Montego Bay is pretty much destroyed.”
With airports disabled, roads closed, and other infrastructure down, it was unclear Wednesday how long they might be stranded on the devastated island.
“She’s my one and only,” Kell said through tears. “It’s just her and me.”
“This has been the most harrowing, frightful, excruciating experience I’ve ever been through, and I could just imagine what my daughter is going through. It’s a surreal calm that comes over you when you have absolutely no control. You wear your heart on the outside of your body with your kids, and it’s hard when you can’t get to it.”
twilhelm@postmedia.com
Melissa pummeled Jamaica on Tuesday, striking the island nation as a Category 5 hurricane.
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