City Leader Leading Recovery Efforts at Hurricane Melissa's Worst-Hit Area
This mayor of the town of Black River – a community referred to as “ground zero” for Hurricane Melissa – has detailed the immense storm surges and widespread devastation caused by the catastrophe.
Reflecting on the traumatic experience, the mayor described riding out the intense storm at an emergency response center.
“The entire town of Black River is in ruins,” he stated. “The destruction is so severe that the national leader designated this area as ground zero.”
Several people from Black River are reported to have died, but Solomon mentioned receiving word of other deaths that remain unconfirmed due to connectivity and travel challenges.
“The hurricane arrived around 8 a.m. and lasted for around nine hours, during which we were pounded with strong gusts and torrential rainfall,” he explained.
“We got up to 4.8 metres of flooding at the response center. It was a frightening moment for us, and we were praying that it would not increase any further, because we were on the second floor, and I tell you, when we saw the water climbing, it was a scary moment for us.”
The mayor explained that Black River, located in the severely affected southwest region of St Elizabeth, is without water and power, and most buildings have lost their roofs. An authority earlier characterized the town as flooded, with over 500,000 inhabitants without power. A mudslide has blocked the primary routes of Santa Cruz, where roadways have been turned to mud pits. Residents are now sweeping water from their houses and attempting to rescue their possessions.
Search and rescue operations and damage assessments have proven extremely difficult because every one of the town’s transport and critical services such as fire, police, medical centers and grocery stores were “immensely damaged,” says the mayor.
The mayor is now focused on working to help the neediest residents, while also dealing with the individual toll of the disaster.
“The mayor's car was completely covered by water. My roof was lost, so I do understand the pain that persons are feeling, but what is a priority for me now is to concentrate on securing assistance for the most at-risk at this point,” he says.
The mayor believes that it will take millions of local currency to rebuild Black River after Melissa’s annihilation. For now, he says, the main goal is removing debris from impassable roads, which have isolated the town.
“Efforts are underway to clear the main roads and secondary routes here so that we can deliver relief supplies in. The majority of our supermarkets, if not all, were impacted negatively so they will be unable to provide supplies to persons who are in need at this time,” he adds.
National leadership has witnessed the devastation first-hand, with an flyover of the region showing the vast majority of roofs in the area had been destroyed.
“It is going to be a enormous task to restore Black River. But although it is damaged, we can envision a tomorrow of it emerging more resilient and better,” he informed reporters.
“It will be accomplished. So keep the optimism, remain hopeful, and we will overcome this challenge, and we will reconstruct stronger,” he said.
