Mayor Guiding Recovery Work at Hurricane Melissa's Ground Zero
The mayor of Black River – a community referred to as “ground zero” for Hurricane Melissa – has shared the monstrous storm surges and extensive destruction wrought by the disaster.
Speaking on the harrowing experience, the mayor recalled enduring the intense hurricane at an emergency response center.
“The entire town of Black River is devastated,” he stated. “And that devastation is so severe that the national leader classified this area as ground zero.”
Several people from Black River are reported dead, but Solomon mentioned receiving word of other fatalities that remain unconfirmed due to connectivity and transportation challenges.
“The hurricane came around 8 a.m. and lasted for around nine hours, during which we were battered with strong gusts and a lot of rain,” he explained.
“We got up to 4.8 metres of water at the emergency operating centre. That was a frightening moment for us, and we were praying that it would not rise any further, because we were on the second floor, and I tell you, when we saw the water climbing, it was a terrifying moment for us.”
Solomon stated that Black River, located in the hard-hit south-western parish of the area, is without running water and electricity, and the majority of buildings have had their roofs. An authority earlier characterized the town as flooded, with over 500,000 inhabitants lacking electricity. A mudslide has blocked the primary routes of a nearby area, where streets have been reduced to mud pits. Locals are now sweeping water from their houses and attempting to salvage their possessions.
Search and rescue operations and damage assessments have proven almost impossible because all the town’s vehicles and critical services such as fire, law enforcement, medical centers and grocery stores were “severely damaged,” says the mayor.
He is now focused on trying to assist the most vulnerable, while also dealing with the personal impact of the disaster.
“The mayor's car was completely covered by water. My roof was lost, so I fully grasp the suffering that people are feeling, but what is a key focus for me now is to concentrate on securing aid relief for the most vulnerable at this point,” he says.
The mayor estimates that it will take billions of Jamaican dollars to rebuild Black River after the hurricane's destruction. At present, he states, the priority is removing debris from blocked routes, which have isolated the town.
“We are now trying to get the main roads and secondary routes here so that we can get relief supplies in. Most of our stores, if not all, were severely affected so they will be unable to provide supplies to persons who are in need at this moment,” he adds.
The prime minister has witnessed the damage personally, with an flyover of the region revealing 80 to 90% of roofs in the area had been lost.
“It is going to be a enormous undertaking to restore Black River. But although it is destroyed, we can vision a future of it rising more resilient and improved,” he informed local media.
“It will be accomplished. So maintain the optimism, keep hope alive, and we will overcome this challenge, and we will reconstruct stronger,” he affirmed.
