🔗 Share this article

This mayor of Black River – a community described as “ground zero” for the devastating storm – has shared the immense storm surges and extensive devastation wrought by the disaster.

Speaking on the harrowing ordeal, Richard Solomon described riding out the intense hurricane at an emergency operating centre.

“The entire town of this area is devastated,” he stated. “And that devastation is so catastrophic that the national leader classified this area as ground zero.”

Five individuals from Black River are confirmed to have died, but the mayor mentioned hearing reports of additional fatalities that remain unconfirmed due to connectivity and transportation difficulties.

“Storm Melissa came around eight in the morning and continued for around nine hours, during which we were pounded with heavy winds and a lot of rain,” he added.

“We got up to 16ft of flooding at the emergency operating centre. That was a frightening moment for us, and we were hoping that it would not rise any further, because we were on the second floor, and frankly, when we saw the water climbing, it was a terrifying experience for us.”

The mayor stated that the town, situated in the hard-hit southwest region of St Elizabeth, is lacking water and electricity, and the majority of structures have lost their roofing. An authority earlier characterized the town as flooded, with more than 500,000 inhabitants lacking electricity. A landslide has blocked the main roads of a nearby area, where streets have been reduced to muddy tracks. Residents are now sweeping water from their houses and trying to rescue their possessions.

Search and rescue operations and damage assessments have become almost impossible because every one of the town’s transport and essential facilities such as firefighting, police, hospitals and supermarkets were “immensely damaged,” says the mayor.

He is now focused on trying to help the neediest residents, while also dealing with the individual toll of the devastation.

“The mayor's car was totally submerged by water. The roofing went, so I do understand the pain that people are experiencing, but what is a key focus for me now is to concentrate on securing assistance for the most at-risk at this point,” he says.

The mayor estimates that it will take millions of local currency to restore the community after the hurricane's destruction. For now, he states, the main goal is clearing blocked routes, which have isolated the town.

“Efforts are underway to clear the major thoroughfares and secondary routes here so that we can get relief supplies in. The majority of our supermarkets, if not all, were impacted negatively so they will be unable to offer goods to individuals who are in dire straits at this moment,” he says.

National leadership has witnessed the devastation first-hand, with an flyover of the region revealing 80 to 90% of roofs in the area had been destroyed.

“This will be a enormous task to restore this historic town. But while it is destroyed, we can envision a tomorrow of it emerging stronger and better,” he told reporters.

“It will be accomplished. So keep the positive outlook, remain hopeful, and we will get through this, and we will reconstruct stronger,” he affirmed.