Mayor Guiding Rebuilding Efforts at Hurricane Melissa's Ground Zero

This mayor of the town of Black River – a community referred to as “ground zero” for the devastating storm – has shared the immense flooding and extensive destruction wrought by the catastrophe.

Speaking on the traumatic experience, Richard Solomon recalled riding out the intense storm at an emergency operating centre.

“Our community of this area is devastated,” he stated. “And that devastation is so catastrophic that the prime minister designated this area as ground zero.”

Five individuals from the town are reported to have died, but the mayor mentioned receiving word of other deaths that remain unconfirmed due to connectivity and transportation challenges.

“Storm Melissa arrived around eight in the morning and continued for around several hours, during which we were pounded with strong gusts and a lot of rain,” he added.

“We got up to 4.8 metres of water at the response center. It was a bit scary for us, and we were praying that it would not increase any further, because we were on the upper level, and I tell you, when we saw the water climbing, it was a scary experience for us.”

The mayor stated that Black River, located in the severely affected south-western parish of St Elizabeth, is without water and power, and the majority of structures have had their roofing. An authority earlier described the town as under water, with more than half a million residents lacking electricity. A mudslide has blocked the main roads of a nearby area, where roadways have been reduced to muddy tracks. Residents are now sweeping water from their homes and trying to rescue their belongings.

Search and rescue operations and evaluations have become almost impossible because all the town’s vehicles and critical services such as firefighting, law enforcement, medical centers and grocery stores were “immensely damaged,” says the mayor.

He is now concentrating on trying to help the neediest residents, while also coping with the individual toll of the disaster.

“The mayor's car was totally covered by water. The roofing went, so I do understand the suffering that persons are feeling, but what is a priority for me now is to focus on securing assistance for the most at-risk at this point,” he explains.

Solomon believes that it will take millions of local currency to restore the community after Melissa’s destruction. For now, he states, the main goal is removing debris from blocked routes, which have cut off the town.

“We are now trying to clear the major thoroughfares and secondary routes here so that we can get relief supplies in. The majority of our stores, if not all, were severely affected so they won’t be able to offer goods to persons who are in dire straits at this moment,” he says.

The prime minister has seen the devastation first-hand, with an aerial tour of the region revealing 80 to 90% of roofs in the area had been destroyed.

“This will be a massive undertaking to rebuild this historic town. But while it is destroyed, we can vision a future of it emerging stronger and improved,” he informed reporters.

“It will be accomplished. So keep the positive outlook, keep hope alive, and we will get through this, and we will rebuild better,” he said.