Retired Halifax firefighter weathering Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica

A Nova Scotia man says people in Jamaica are as ready as they can be for Hurricane Melissa, a Category 5 storm that made landfall on the Caribbean island on Tuesday morning.

Phil Rock, a retired Halifax firefighter and horticulturalist, has been in Jamaica preparing for Melissa since last week. He's visiting his property in Negril for a month and also helping a friend watch over their home and pets.

"You know the Jamaican people — they're resilient, they're resourceful and everybody is banding together," Rock told CBC News.

"People are taking people in and that's happening here and I'm seeing that and you know, since [the storm] is moving so slowly, people have been preparing for about five days thinking it was going to be here soon."

Rock said both his and his friend's homes are very sturdy and, given their location on the west coast of the island, they'll likely escape the worst.

After the storm moves on to Cuba and the Bahamas, Rock said he plans to volunteer and help with recovery and rebuilding operations.

According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, Melissa will be the strongest hurricane in recent memory to hit a Caribbean country.

At some Nova Scotia farms, seasonal workers from Jamaica are also anxiously watching for weather updates.

Josh Oulton, the co-owner of Taproot Farms in Port Williams, N.S., said his business employs about 20 workers from Jamaica. He said the mood there is very sombre.

"It's kind of a very strange kind of feeling day on the farm. We're packing lots of food for Nova Scotians and at the same time there is the news, live updates from Jamaica everywhere you go," he said.

While phones usually aren't permitted at work, Oulton said he made an exception given the gravity of Hurricane Melissa. He said some of his workers have been able to contact loved ones in Jamaica as recently as 3 p.m. AT, but others haven't been able to get through at all.

They're worried about family and friends being hurt in the storm, and they're also concerned about property damage, Oulton said.

"I've had a lot of people call me wondering what they can do and I certainly don't have the answer for that," he said.

"I feel like there's probably going to be some activity around to help raise funds for these people that have been helping feed Nova Scotians for the last 20 years and I think it would be great for Nova Scotia to step up and help these people."