ABBEVILLE, S.C. —

What was supposed to be a trip to celebrate multiple birthdays turned into frightening moments for one upstate family. A small group of people from the upstate are in Jamaica waiting and hoping to return home. Communication with their families has been minimal due to signal disruptions from Hurricane Melissa.

Dominique Smith and Victoria Sutton and several of their family and friends landed in Jamaica and reached their hotel last Saturday, that's when they learned of what was ahead of them. Smith recalls his first thought after hearing about Hurricane Melissa.

"How are we going to get home?" Smith said.

Smith called his mother, Shamekial Gray, who was at home in Abbeville. Gray gave her son the only advice she knew.

"Everybody, get into the same room. Y'all get on yo

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