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Newlyweds relieved after hurricane passes
A Milwaukee couple is eager to return home after Hurricane Melissa turned their seven-day honeymoon in Jamaica into a two-week stay.
MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee couple's honeymoon to Jamaica was only supposed to last seven days, but it turned into two weeks. It might have been exciting if not for the circumstances: Hurricane Melissa.
Stuck in Jamaica
Local perspective:
Tiera and Laquon Triplett are currently stranded on the Caribbean island, riding out the storm at their resort roughly 45 minutes from Montego Bay.
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"The ocean sounded like it was so close because you could just hear the waves crashing on the shore," said Tiera.
Tiera and Laquon Triplett
"I was terrified," Laquon said. "I was hearing knocks at the door like the wind about to knock the door down. I’m going into survival mode."
The couple was anxious at one point about returning safely to their children. They've since been able to rebook their flight home to Chicago, but the costs keep adding up.
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"You pay for the wedding, it's super expensive. You pay for the honeymoon, it's expensive because everything is back-to-back," said Tiera. "Then you get hit with a natural disaster."
Strangers step up
Dig deeper:
That's when their family, friends and strangers stepped in to help.
Video from Tiera and Laquan Triplett, stuck in Jamaica during Hurricane Melissa
"I saw the story that first aired about them on FOX, and I’m like OMG, like what are the odds," said Carolyn Anderson, a Jamaican-born life coach trained to help in natural disasters – even as she worries about her own family on the island.
"I can’t get in touch with my family. My mom is there, my two brothers and aunts and uncles."
Anderson is using her connections to help the Tripletts: "When you’re in a foreign country, you don’t know who to trust."
Headed home?
What's next:
The newlyweds said Anderson is helping with transportation back to the airport. They have a flight booked for Friday and hope the airport reopens so they can come home.
As for Anderson, she plans to fly to Jamaica as soon as possible to assist in any way she can. She's encouraging anyone that wants to support her hurricane relief efforts to visit her website.
Watch Live: Hurricane Melissa slams into Jamaica with 185-mph winds
Hurricane Melissa is making landfall in Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, the strongest to hit the island since recordkeeping began 174 years ago.
The Source: FOX6 News interviewed the Tripletts and Anderson and referenced coverage related to Hurricane Melissa.