When Hurricane Melissa unleashed its fury on Montego Bay, Shana-Lee Hull found herself in a life-or-death situation. As floodwaters surged into her Estuary home, she had mere seconds to act. Grabbing her four-year-old daughter, she forced open a door jammed by the weight of the rising water and fled through dense vegetation to higher ground. Hours later, she stood on a hill, watching helplessly as her home and vehicle were swallowed by the flood. ‘I lost everything,’ Hull told the Jamaica Observer on Thursday. ‘I’m standing here today, but I’m homeless.’ Hull is among over 100 residents displaced by the hurricane, which brought torrential rains and fierce winds to western Jamaica on Tuesday, rendering roads impassable and forcing families to abandon their homes. The nightmare began during the storm’s peak, as heavy rains battered Montego Bay. Hull recalled how, within minutes, her home was surrounded by water, and the pressure pinned her door shut. ‘I braced against the door, but it wouldn’t budge. It was only through sheer determination that I managed to open it,’ she said. Clutching her daughter, Hull fled as water rushed into her house. ‘Normally she doesn’t listen to me, but that day she did whatever I said,’ she recounted with a weary smile. Nineteen other residents escaped alongside her, helping each other navigate thorny bushes and climb to safety. However, when they turned back, the devastation was overwhelming. ‘I watched my entire house and vehicle disappear under the water,’ Hull said. Despite preparing for the storm with food and supplies, Hull was unprepared for the aftermath. She attributed the severity of the flooding to poor drainage and the overflow of a nearby pond. ‘The pond overflowed, and the water had nowhere to go but into our homes,’ she explained, appealing to the National Housing Trust (NHT) for urgent repairs. As Hull searches for shelter, her friend Kathy Campbell, a restaurant manager at Rainforest Seafood Market, has been leading relief efforts. ‘I’ve been cooking for displaced families since the storm,’ Campbell said. ‘We need food, water, and essential supplies.’ Both women are pleading for immediate assistance to help their community rebuild. For Hull, the memories of her escape remain vivid, and the thought of returning to her flooded home fills her with dread. ‘I would never want to sleep in that house again,’ she said.