"The trees are snapping, the wind is slamming into our rooms and the rain is relentless."
Keira Witcomb is among millions of locals and tourists awaiting the arrival of Hurricane Melissa, which is expected to hit Jamaica in the coming hours.
"We're absolutely terrified," Ms Witcomb, who travelled to the Caribbean island from the UK for her mother's wedding, told the BBC.
As the world's strongest storm of the year closes in, people describe frantic preparations, empty shops, and a pervasive sense of anxiety.
Damion, a computer scientist living in Kingston, told the BBC he had woken on Tuesday to winds "so strong you would not be able to stand up" outside.
