KSHB 41 reporter Megan Abundis covers Kansas City, Missouri, including neighborhoods in the southern part of the city. Share your story idea with Megan.
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A group of Kansas travelers, including newlyweds on their honeymoon, is hunkered down at a resort on the north side of Jamaica as Hurricane Melissa approaches the island.
Across Jamaica, authorities have issued evacuation orders as waves and winds intensify along the coastline and people brace for the storm's impact.
The Kansas group has been documenting hurricane preparations over the past few days while trying to find a way home.
Hailey Waltner told KSHB 41's Megan Abundis she's used to being landlocked in Kansas City, Kansas, but a hurricane is a whole "different experience."
Waltner traveled to Jamaica with her friends Jordan and Lucas Hockenbury to celebrate the Emporia, Kansas, couple's honeymoon.
The group has tried multiple times to get flights home, but efforts have not been successful.
"They got canceled," Jordan Hockenbury said.
The few available seats soared in price.
"I saw economy seats go for $4,000," Waltner said.
Some people were able to book flights, but then the airport shut down.
The group receives briefings every few hours from hotel staff about the approaching storm.
"Transparency is becoming much more prominent now, " Jordan Hockenbury said. "We are seeing the realness of what's going on. We're alright, doing fine. We are boarded up now."
Waltner told Abundis their passport photos were sent to their parents. She also said her mom is "worried sick."
Guests are preparing their rooms by stacking furniture, filling the bathtub with water, and stockpiling food and water.
The Hockenburys said hotel staff are taking care of guests with lots of safety precautions.
"There are generators, prepped with water, there are food lines going as long as they can with hot food," Jordan Hockenbury said.
Waltner said the hotel has hurricane-proof sliding glass doors that open onto balconies, but the group is bracing for severe weather conditions.
"We have no idea what's about to happen, what to expect," she said. "They are saying 40 inches of rain in 12 hours."
Just days into their marriage, Jordan and Lucas are weathering their first storm together.
"We will figure it out as it comes. There's no changing it," Jordan Hockenbury said.
Resort staff have helped keep the group calm during the uncertain situation.
"The staff have been super calm, super reassuring, no sense of fear, no doomsday fears, which helps us keep calm as well," Waltner said.
Their travel agent is working around the clock to help them get home, too.
"Our travel agent, bless her heart, she's getting put to work," Jordan Hockenbury said.
Waltner hopes the airport will reopen soon.
The resort, housed in a concrete building, is located along a coastal road about two hours from the airport in Montego Bay.
"We are going into the unknown," Waltner said. "We're just hoping for the best. When the weather gets too dangerous, we will stay in our rooms."
Waltner is booked to leave Friday, but the journey to the airport presents additional challenges given the coastal route.
The group was told that resort employees are volunteering to stay and help guests weather the storm.
Travel agent Mark Ebbitts, president of Shelton Travel Service, said travelers can still purchase travel insurance if they haven't made their final payment yet. That includes during hurricane season.
"At the resorts, they will typically put everyone on an interior first floor," Ebbitts said.
He said insurance will cover the loss of money and allow travelers to get home if airfare is higher.
Travel insurance typically costs about 6% of the total trip cost. For a $5,000 trip, insurance would cost around $300.
"It's good peace of mind, great peace of mind," Ebbitts said. "Sometimes you have to be creative."
He said this might involve hopping on smaller airlines to get out of Jamaica and then connecting to Kansas City. Travel insurance also covers trip delays, lost bags and catastrophic health emergencies.
The hurricane is already on the minds of other clients with future travel plans.
"We have a client leaving in January who called us this morning, very concerned about her resort," Ebbitts said.
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