City Leader Guiding Recovery Efforts at Hurricane Melissa's Worst-Hit Area
The mayor of Black River – a community described as “ground zero” for the devastating storm – has shared the immense flooding and widespread devastation caused by the catastrophe.
Speaking on the harrowing experience, Richard Solomon described enduring the intense storm at an emergency response center.
“The entire town of this area is in ruins,” he said. “The destruction is so severe that the prime minister classified this area as ground zero.”
Several people from Black River are reported dead, but Solomon mentioned receiving word of other deaths that remain unconfirmed due to connectivity and transportation difficulties.
“Storm Melissa arrived around eight in the morning and continued for around several hours, during which we were battered with strong gusts and a lot of rain,” he explained.
“We got up to 16ft of flooding at the response center. It was a bit scary for us, and we were hoping that it would not increase any more, 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, situated in the hard-hit south-western parish of the area, is without water and power, and the majority of structures have lost their roofing. An authority previously described the town as flooded, with over 500,000 residents without power. A mudslide has blocked the primary routes of a nearby area, where streets have been reduced to muddy tracks. Locals are now sweeping water from their houses and trying to rescue their possessions.
Search and rescue operations and damage assessments have proven almost impossible because all the town’s vehicles and essential facilities such as firefighting, law enforcement, hospitals and supermarkets were “severely damaged,” notes the mayor.
He is now concentrating on trying to assist the most vulnerable, while also dealing with the personal impact of the disaster.
“My vehicle was totally 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 focus on getting aid relief for the most at-risk at this point,” he explains.
Solomon believes that it will take millions of Jamaican dollars to rebuild Black River after the hurricane's destruction. For now, he states, the priority is removing debris from blocked routes, which have cut off the town.
“Efforts are underway to get the major thoroughfares and secondary routes here so that we can get relief supplies in. The majority of our stores, if not all, were impacted negatively so they will be unable to provide supplies to persons who are in need at this time,” he says.
National leadership has seen the devastation first-hand, with an aerial tour of the region showing the vast majority of buildings in the area had been destroyed.
“This will be a massive task to restore Black River. But while it is destroyed, we can vision a tomorrow of it rising more resilient and better,” he informed local media.
“We will get it done. So keep the positive outlook, keep hope alive, and we will get through this, and we will rebuild better,” he said.
