Jamaica's prime minister implored residents to evacuate as Hurricane Melissa began lashing the island with violent gusts on Monday (October 27) as it approached landfall.
The ferocious Category 5 storm is set to pummel Jamaica on Tuesday, with forecasters warning that it would be the strongest to hit the island since records began 174 years ago.
Mandatory evacuation orders were put in place for seven areas in Jamaica across Kingston, Clarendon, St Catherine, and St Andrew — but despite PM Andrew Holness' pleas for people to seek shelter, some Jamaicans said they were staying put.
In Port Royal, Roy Brown told Agence France-Presse: "I am not moving. I don’t believe I can run from death,” citing poor experiences with conditions of government shelters as his reason for not evacuating.
