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A car drives near debris on a road in Kingston, Jamaica, Oct. 27, 2025, as Hurricane Melissa approached. The slow-moving hurricane, a Category 5 storm with winds of ranging from 175-185 mph, had already killed at least seven -- three in Haiti, one in the Dominican Republic and three in Jamaica -- ahead of making landfall Oct. 28 in southwestern Jamaica at about 1 p.m. ET. (OSV News Octavio Jones, Reuters)
(OSV News) -- As Hurricane Melissa approached Jamaica Oct. 27, OSV News spoke with Bishop John Persaud, who shepherds the Diocese of Mandeville and is also apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Montego Bay, which together with the Archdiocese of Kingston serve the faithful on the Caribbean island nation.
The slow-moving hurricane, a Category 5 storm with winds of ranging from 175-185 mph, has already killed at least seven -- three in Haiti, one in the Dominican Republic, and three in Jamaica ahead of landfall on Oct. 28. The hurricane is the strongest storm the planet has seen this year.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
OSV News: What preparations have you and your parishioners made for Hurricane Melissa?
Bishop Persaud: Before Hurricane Melissa came to be, I actually had organized two weeks' vacation in Canada, and so I'm at the moment in Canada. I'm not on the island. I've been kept continuously briefed from there. ... But my heart is in Jamaica, and I am clearly worried about our people there.
OSV News: In a way, that's providential, so that you can be the point of connectivity for the church amid the storm, with a stable telecommunications connection.
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