How Hurricane Beryl is impacting Windsor's Jamaican community

Windsorites with connections to Caribbean nations are concerned about the impacts of Hurricane Beryl on their friends and families.

The Category 4 storm, downgraded from a Category 5, passed near Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. The storm had previously killed at least six people after making landfall in the southeast Caribbean.

Global Affairs Canada (GAC) advised Canadians to avoid travel to Haiti as well as "all non-essential travel to the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Union Island in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and to Carriacou and Petite Martinique in Grenada" in a statement issued Tuesday evening.

For Juliet Sailsman — operational manager at Saila Vibes Restaurant and Bar in Windsor — the threat of another hurricane brings back memories of her own experiences.

"I have experienced [Hurricane] Ivan, and I don't wish to experience another hurricane," she told CBC News. "It was a nightmare. We lost so many things: animals, neighbours, rooftops blown off. People were just distraught and confused."

Sailsman has been in Canada for eight years and some of her family are still based in St. Elizabeth Parish in Jamaica, where she thinks the hurricane will strike next.

"I spoke to my family members there, and they're bracing and preparing as much as they can. But, we all know that God is always in control, so we're just hoping for the best."

'You don't know how harsh it will be'

A Category 5 hurricane — the top category on the five-step scale used to measure hurricane winds— brings winds of 252 km/h or higher and is capable of causing catastrophic damage, including the destruction of homes and infrastructure.

Sandra Rennie, who moved to Canada when she was a child, isn't sure how her family in Jamaica will be affected as the storm makes landfall.

"I need to contact my cousin Joyce, and she lives in Portmore to see how she's doing, and I need to contact her sister Jasmine, who is in St. Thomas," she said. "It's scary because you don't know how harsh it will be, where it will hit and what can happen.

"I came up to speed yesterday with what happened in Grenada, in St. Vincent and Barbados, and it was rough ... It's rough when you lose your house. Thank God the fatalities are not high, but one person gone is enough."

Sound engineer Jason Nesta, also known as DJ Staxx, also has family in Portmore.

"I've spoken to my aunt a little earlier today and rain has taken over. The whole Portmore city area is getting pretty dark and rained out right now," Nesta said. "We're keeping our fingers crossed that they don't get affected as much as certain areas have already, but we're prepared to help and send food and money back home if we do have to."

Nesta was born in Canada, but he said that events like these always give him empathy for his family's country.

"I could only imagine what they're going through because when it did happen in the past, we were sending barrels of food down, we were sending money when we could ... Your whole life just could be shambled in a matter of a couple of hours, so I could only imagine their pain."

Community will come together to support

Despite the worries among the Jamaican community in Windsor, moments like these can provide a sense of a strong community.

"We'll take necessary steps to assist, because there are communities in Windsor, that will come together and try and do something if that's needed," Rennie said. "We love Jamaica. We love our people. It's a beautiful island, and here in Windsor, there is a community of of people called Jamaicans."

"We are very proud of who we are as Jamaicans."