Abigail Hines Clarke scrolls through terrifying news stories and videos of the devastation left by Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica and worries about dozens of loved ones who live there.

Clarke, 26, manages Island Affairs, a Caribbean grocery store in South Portland. The catastrophic Category 5 storm tore across the island nation with 185 mph winds on Tuesday. Among the hardest hit areas is the southwestern parish of St. Elizabeth, where two uncles and two aunts live, along with their children and other relatives.

“Half of my family lives in St. Elizabeth,” Clarke said Wednesday while at work. “That area has been completely destroyed. My mother has lost touch with all of them. We haven’t heard from one of my uncles since yesterday. She worries that he got washed away.”

Her mother, Shernett Hines, lives in rural St. Catherine, in southeastern Jamaica. She’s OK, but Clark said she is frustrated that buildings in Jamaica are not constructed to withstand hurricanes that have become more fierce and more frequent.

“The government needs to do better, especially with hospitals, schools and other public buildings,” she said. “Hurricanes happen every year. There’s another one out there now.”

Born in New Jersey and raised in Jamaica, Clarke is one of about 2,000 Mainers with Jamaican heritage. Most are worried about family members and friends who live in the Caribbean country, as are Mainers with loved ones who have been stranded there while on vacation.

“Everyone is worried,” said Clarke, 26, who lives in Freeport. “This is by far the worst hurricane we’ve ever seen. Lines are down and it’s hard to communicate with people. The fear is that many people may have drowned.”

DESTRUCTION IN JAMAICA

Jamaican officials have said the cleanup and damage assessment could be slow.

Heavy floodwaters swept across southwestern Jamaica on Tuesday, ripping roofs off buildings and tumbling boulders onto roads as the island was hit by one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, the Associated Press reported.

“There is no infrastructure in the region that can withstand a Category 5,” Prime Minister Andrew Holness said. “The question now is the speed of recovery. That’s the challenge.”

Floodwaters trapped at least three families in their homes in the community of Black River in western Jamaica, and crews were unable to help them because of dangerous conditions, said Desmond McKenzie, deputy chairman of Jamaica’s Disaster Risk Management Council.

McKenzie said it was too early to talk about the extent of the damage by the strongest hurricane to hit the island since recordkeeping began 174 years ago.

“We are hoping and praying that the situation will ease so that some attempt can be made to get to those persons,” McKenzie said, noting that St. Elizabeth Parish “is underwater.”

Jamaican officials had warned against going outside during Hurricane Melissa. Nearly 15,000 people were in shelters and some 540,000 customers — about 77% of the population — were without power, officials said.

WORRIED AT HOME IN MAINE

Crystal Ponti of Manchester lost contact with her son Caden Wedge at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. She was elated when she finally received a text from him Wednesday afternoon.

“They are OK,” Ponti said. “My heart can’t take this rollercoaster.”

Wedge, 25, and his girlfriend, Jill Pino, who live in Sidney, have been on vacation in western Jamaica with her family since last week, staying at the Hotel Riu Negril on Bloody Bay Beach.

“Everything was going great until Sunday,” said Ponti, a public relations specialist. “People always say hurricanes are never bad in Jamaica.”

As the storm intensified, Wedge, a finish carpenter, phoned his mother and told her they couldn’t get a flight out. The hotel went into lockdown on Monday. Staff instructed guests to stay in their rooms and buttress balcony doors with a mattress to prevent them from blowing into the room. They said meals would be delivered twice a day.

Ponti, a mother of five, said worrying about her son has been very difficult because an older son, Adam Higgins, died unexpectedly two years ago at age 30.

“Yesterday during the hurricane, Caden did call me,” Ponti said. “But it has been very nerve racking. I know he’s smart and resourceful, but how is my son there in a hurricane of historic proportions?”

Ponti said Wedge was hopeful that they would be able to fly home Friday as scheduled, but she figures airport activity will be reserved for rescue and humanitarian efforts for quite some time. One of Pino’s family members requires regular medication that will run out soon after, she said.

Ponti plans to seek additional assistance from U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-2nd District, whose staff has been helpful so far, she said. And she’s counting on friends and family members to help keep her spirits up.

“I have my moments,” she said, “but I have a tremendous support network and Caden’s siblings keep me very, very busy.”

At Richie’s Jerk & BBQ Restaurant in Sanford, co-owner Stephannie Smith has shared several emotional posts on Facebook.

“My little island of Jamaica is in shambles,” Smith wrote. “Our relatives are unreachable at the moment in most parishes and the damage is going to take a while for people to get back to living their normal lives.”

She noted that at least three hospitals have lost their roofs, kids are going to need school supplies and food, and the number of lives lost is yet unknown. She sent heartfelt hugs and prayers to her fellow Jamaicans.

“As an immigrant that works my Sox off, it hurts to see people…when the worst hits,” she wrote. “The struggle is real. In all the bad, we give thanks for lives spared. Material things can be replaced.”

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.