Mayor Guiding Rebuilding Work at Storm Melissa's Epicenter

The local leader of Black River – a community referred to as “ground zero” for Hurricane Melissa – has shared the immense storm surges and widespread devastation caused by the catastrophe.

Speaking on the harrowing experience, Richard Solomon described enduring the intense hurricane at an emergency operating centre.

“The entire town of Black River is devastated,” he said. “The destruction is so catastrophic that the prime minister designated this area as ground zero.”

Several people from the town are reported dead, but the mayor mentioned hearing reports of other fatalities that are still being verified due to communication and transportation difficulties.

“Storm Melissa came around 8 a.m. and lasted for around nine hours, during which we were battered with strong gusts and torrential rainfall,” he explained.

“We got up to 16ft of flooding at the response center. It was a frightening moment for us, and we were hoping that it would not rise any further, because we were on the upper level, and frankly, when we saw the water rising, it was a scary moment for us.”

The mayor stated that the town, located in the hard-hit south-western region of St Elizabeth, is lacking running water and electricity, and the majority of buildings have lost their roofing. One official earlier described the town as under water, with more than 500,000 residents without power. A mudslide has blocked the primary routes of a nearby area, where streets have been turned to muddy tracks. Locals are now removing water from their houses and trying to salvage their possessions.

Search and rescue operations and damage assessments have proven almost impossible because all the town’s transport and essential facilities such as firefighting, police, hospitals and grocery stores were “severely damaged,” notes Solomon.

He is now concentrating on working to help the most vulnerable, while also dealing with the personal impact of the disaster.

“My vehicle was completely covered by water. The roofing was lost, so I do understand the suffering that people are feeling, but what is a priority for me now is to concentrate on getting assistance for the most vulnerable at this time,” he says.

Solomon estimates that it will take millions of Jamaican dollars to restore the community after Melissa’s annihilation. For now, he states, the main goal is removing debris from blocked routes, which have isolated the town.

“Efforts are underway to clear the major thoroughfares and secondary routes here so that we can deliver relief supplies in. Most of our stores, if not all, were severely affected so they won’t be able to provide supplies to persons who are in dire straits at this moment,” he says.

National leadership has seen the damage personally, with an flyover of the region revealing 80 to 90% of buildings in the area had been lost.

“This will be a massive undertaking to rebuild Black River. But while it is destroyed, we can envision a tomorrow of it emerging stronger and better,” he informed reporters.

“It will be accomplished. So maintain the optimism, keep hope alive, and we will overcome this challenge, and we will reconstruct stronger,” he said.