MACON, Ga. — When Hurricane Melissa tore through Jamaica last week, Clyde Green said he felt every gust.

“It hit home because it’s right where I’m from,” Green said. “The epicenter was less than six miles from where I grew up.”

Green, a physician at Omni Health Solutions in Macon, was born and raised in Black River, a town in the parish of St. Elizabeth. For more than 30 years, he has balanced life between Georgia and the island he still calls home.

“I have family there. My mom is still alive, 93 years old — praise God she made it through the storm — and one of my sisters got a few bruises, but she’s doing well,” Green said.

Hurricane Melissa left much of the southern coast in ruins, damaging Green’s parish church, destroying part of the local hospital and splitting communities with

See Full Page