“I was actually pretty scared… scared like I wished I was, you know, not there.”
That’s how veteran storm chaser Josh Morgerman described the moment Hurricane Melissa tore into the west coast of Jamaica — a storm so violent he says it shattered assumptions about what’s “safe” in a hurricane.
For many Jamaicans along the coast, the experience was even more personal.
“Hurricane Melissa was really traumatic for most of us who live near the coastline,” one resident said in the aftermath.
A historic Category 5 landfall
Hurricane Melissa made landfall on Oct. 28, 2025, as a Category 5 storm with winds clocked at 185 mph and peak gust over 200 mph , strength that tied for the most powerful hurricane landfall in the Atlantic, and the strongest hurricane ever to hit Jamaica.
Morgerman, known for documenting extreme weather, stayed through the entire event, hunkered down in a hotel as the storm peaked.
“It lived up to what the data was showing before it hit — absolute ferocious,” he said.
“The wind was screaming”
Even for someone who chases the world’s worst storms, Melissa was different.
“The sound of the wind — the screaming sound — it hurt your ear,” Morgerman said. “You wanted to cover your ears.”
What unsettled him most wasn’t just the noise or the pressure — it was what the storm did to buildings that were supposed to hold.
“I always thought concrete buildings were totally safe in hurricanes,” “Not in Melissa. Some concrete buildings collapsed. That’s how intense it was.”he said.
After the winds: families left with nothing
When the storm finally passed, the view outside revealed just how much had been stripped away.
Destruction stretched as far as the eye could see, and families were left with nothing but debris and uncertainty. Residents on in Black River told missionaries from Bethel’s Family Church that it will take years to build the infrastructures back.
A call for help from southwest Houston
That setback weighed on people far beyond the island.
More than a thousand miles away, Bethel’s Family Church — nestled in southwest Houston — began mobilizing support for Jamaica, urging its congregation to give what they could.
“We start seeking donations — financial donations — as well as donations that involve meds, clothing,” Pastor Craig Taylor said.
A volunteer who knows hurricanes — and heartbreak
Alfred Sterling Jr. was among the first to step up, heading to Jamaica just months after the storm.
“Stores, communities, schools, even churches, hospitals… had all been pretty much devastated by the hurricane,” Sterling said. “It was very heartbreaking.”
Sterling is no stranger to disaster. He’s lived through hurricanes like Betsy and Katrina — experiences he says helped prepare him for what he saw in Jamaica.
“Experiencing those things in the past helped me and prepared me to be of better help… to those that I came in contact with in Jamaica,” he said.
Bringing medical care — and hope
Now, Sterling is heading back to the island with 40 other volunteers, carrying dozens of suitcases filled with medical supplies.
“Our primary function is to serve the people in a medical capacity,” Sterling said. “Providing any type of medical assistance… over-the-counter medications… doing eye exams, dental work, hearing exams.”
Pastor Craig Taylor says the goal is bigger than supplies.
“Hope — that’s the main thing,” said Pastor Taylor.
“We are the hands and feet of God,” Taylor added. “And we want to be that visible hope… because we actually are the prayers answered.”
How you can help:
Check out Bethel’s Global Reach if you want to donate to their next mission trip: bethelsglobalreach.org/contact/