KINGSTON, St. Andrew Parish —

An Iowa native is describing the hours she spent as Hurricane Melissa — a monster Category 5 storm — tore across Jamaica on Tuesday.

Hannah Hagarty, who grew up in Colfax, moved to Jamaica in 2019 to work with a nonprofit at a convent in Kingston. She says that while she’s experienced tropical storms before, nothing compared to Melissa’s force.

“We lost power about 11:00 this morning,” Hagarty said over a freezing video call. “Lots of rain and heavy wind… we are all boarded up, so I can’t really see outside.”

Hurricane Melissa, the first Category 5 storm ever to make landfall in Jamaica, slammed the island with winds of 185 mph — among the lowest-pressure systems ever recorded in the Atlantic this time of year.

While Kingston was spared a direct hit, heav

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