Many of them may not have had the chance to leave. Typically, hurricanes that follow the track taken by Melissa continue heading westwards towards Yucatan and western Cuba, and many then take a northwards turn into the Gulf of Mexico and head towards Texas. Melissa has taken a very sudden and sharp turn to the north and will now hit Jamaica head on instead of the island only experiencing the outer bands of wind and rain. It therefore may well have been impossible for airlines and tour companies to redirect enough planes to the island to evacuate all tourists once the hurricane's track became clear. Sometimes "shelter in place" is the best or even the only available option.