Hurricane 'took the life out of the island'

Rob and Leah Cuff were in Jamaica on their honeymoon when the Hurricane Melissa hit

A newlywed who was in Jamaica on his honeymoon when Hurricane Melissa struck said the devastation "completely took the life out of the island".

Rob Cuff, a lorry driver from Snedshill in Shropshire, said he and his wife, Leah, 28, spent time comforting hotel staff who had lost their homes on 28 October.

The 29-year-old said when they arrived on the Caribbean island: "Everything was perfect. There were people on the street dancing and singing, all happy".

But after the hurricane: "The sun was back out, but the mood around the island just wasn't the same."

Mr Cuff has experienced storms in Florida and admitted he had an ambition to go "storm chasing" around America one day.

So when he heard a tropical storm was approaching Jamaica, he said he was initially "thrilled" and "just wanted to get a good view of it".

His view, though, changed when the predictions worsened and it became clear the storm was going to hit the island as a category five hurricane. He said it began to get "scary".

"I wasn't expecting it to be as bad as it was," he said.

The couple's hotel in Negril suffered damage with fallen metalwork

The couple were staying in a hotel in Negril, on the western side of the island, and Mr Cuff said some hotel staff had volunteered to stay with them when the hurricane hit.

Those staff had been separated from family and friends, and some had lost their homes.

He said: "There was nothing we could do for them, apart from trying to cheer them up."

And added some guests offered to help clear up the damage around the hotel but were politely turned down for insurance reasons.

Despite their experience, Mr Cuff said: "We would definitely go back, probably not in storm season."

Hezron Ottey says hearing his mother's voice after the hurricane was a "massive, massive relief"

Hezron Ottey, who lives in Wellington in Shropshire, lost contact with his 68-year-old mother and other family members who live in Jamaica, for several days after the hurricane.

It was late on Sunday before he heard his mother's voice again, and he said he "almost jumped through the roof... it was a massive, massive relief".

"That level of silence that the hurricane brought on was louder than the storm itself," he said.

"All you have is faith, really," he added.

While his mother's home had avoided any serious damage, he said the effect on the island had been "devastating" and it now requires "all hands on deck" to carry out repairs.

"Survival is not just about weathering the storm; it's about what happens afterwards," he said.

Since the storm, Mr Ottey said he had been looking for ways to help but said Jamaicans were resilient and "humanity during these times shines".