Mayor Leading Recovery Work at Storm Melissa's Worst-Hit Area

This local leader of the town of Black River – a community referred to as “the epicenter” for Hurricane Melissa – has shared the monstrous storm surges and widespread devastation wrought by the catastrophe.

Speaking on the traumatic experience, the mayor described enduring the Category 5 storm at an emergency operating centre.

“Our community of Black River is in ruins,” he said. “And that devastation is so severe that the national leader designated this area as the worst-hit zone.”

Several people from the town are confirmed to have died, but Solomon mentioned hearing reports of other fatalities that are still being verified due to communication and travel challenges.

“The hurricane arrived around eight in the morning and lasted for around several hours, during which we were pounded with heavy winds and a lot of rain,” he explained.

“We experienced up to 16ft of water at the emergency operating centre. It was a bit scary for us, and we were praying that it would not rise any further, because we were on the upper level, and I tell you, when we saw the water climbing, it was a terrifying moment for us.”

The mayor stated that the town, located in the severely affected southwest region of the area, is lacking running water and electricity, and the majority of buildings have had their roofs. An authority earlier characterized the town as flooded, with over half a million residents lacking electricity. A mudslide has blocked the main roads of Santa Cruz, where roadways have been turned to mud pits. Residents are now removing water from their houses and attempting to salvage their belongings.

Search and rescue operations and damage assessments have proven almost impossible because every one of the town’s vehicles and critical services such as fire, law enforcement, medical centers and grocery stores were “immensely damaged,” says the mayor.

He is now focused on trying to help the most vulnerable, while also coping with the individual toll of the devastation.

“The mayor's car was totally submerged by water. The roofing went, so I do understand the suffering that people are feeling, but what is a priority for me now is to focus on getting aid relief for the most at-risk at this time,” he explains.

The mayor estimates that it will take billions of Jamaican dollars to rebuild Black River after Melissa’s destruction. For now, he states, the main goal is clearing impassable roads, which have isolated the town.

“Efforts are underway to clear the major thoroughfares and critical lateral roads here so that we can get relief supplies in. The majority of our supermarkets, if not all, were severely affected so they won’t be able to provide supplies to individuals who are in dire straits at this moment,” he says.

The prime minister has seen the devastation personally, with an aerial tour of the region revealing the vast majority of roofs in the area had been destroyed.

“This will be a massive undertaking to rebuild Black River. But although it is damaged, we can envision a future of it emerging stronger and improved,” he told reporters.

“We will get it done. So keep the optimism, remain hopeful, and we will get through this, and we will reconstruct stronger,” he affirmed.