With Hurricane Melissa tearing through Jamaica, two Massachusetts women with deep family ties to the island are stepping up to help — and fast.

Bridgette Hylton, founder of the Worcester-based nonprofit For A Better Jamaica, is watching the storm unfold from afar, but her heart is on the island. Her aunt, Jacqueline Stevens, is sheltering in Kingston, where the winds were howling and the power was out.

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"I am more anxious because we have been expecting Melissa from Saturday, and she's moving very, very slowly," Stevens said Tuesday. "It's just, you know, wanting to get it over with."

Stevens says her home survived Hurricane Gilbert back in 1988, and she's hoping it holds up again. But she's worried — not just for

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