DETROIT – Rosemarie Forrest came to the United States from Jamaica 35 years ago. She’s spent the last 16 years in Detroit.
Better known as “Mama Rose,” Forrest owns the Jamaican Pot restaurant on 8 Mile Road, and anyone who saw her on Oct. 29, 2025, offered words of support after her family’s home was destroyed by Hurricane Melissa.
“A lot of people come by and, you know, talk to me about what’s going on and, you know, let us know that whatever they can do to help, they are willing to help,” Forrest said. “You know, I got a lot of support from the community.”
Melissa made landfall on Tuesday as a Category 5 storm, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record.
It demolished parts of the island, left most of it underwater, and nearly all of Jamaica without electricity and cell phone service.
Forrest is from the small village of Bethel Town in western Jamaica.
Forrest said her family’s homes have been wiped out by Melissa, and she has not been able to make contact with anyone on the island, with her only correspondence coming from an uncle in Connecticut.
“My uncle, I don’t know, he’s always holding up right now,” Forrest said. “He called me, told me, he said, ‘I lose my home.’”
Forrest was in Jamaica for the island’s last major hurricane – Hurricane Gilbert in September 1988 – that tore the roof off of her grandmother’s home. Melissa, she says, is much worse.
“Her house was gone, but my uncle’s house was good,” Forrest said. “Now, my uncle’s house, and you have a big house, like a hotel, is just gone.”
Mayon Shorter came into The Jamaican Pot on Wednesday.
He has also had trouble contacting family. He says that these storms are a way of life, even as this one was catastrophic.
“We used to the weather. We used to do the hurricane and stuff like that,” said Shorter. “But at the same time, we still have to prepare.”
“I mean, we can’t evacuate, so we just have to, you know, once everything passed, we just have to rebuild again,” Shorter said.
Forrest hopes to hear definitive word from her family soon and is working on ways to help others, starting a GoFundMe to help her family and others on the island.
“Right now, my uncle he’s worried,” Forrest said. “All my family are worried right now, because we can’t hear if everybody’s alive or, you know, anyone who passed, and we know it’s bad.
Donate to Rebuild Hope for Jamaica After Hurricane Melissa, organized by Forrest.
Hurricane Melissa has devastated many areas throughout Jamaica. Forrest needs your support for Rebuild Hope for Jamaica After Hurricane Melissa.