Mayor Leading Rebuilding Efforts at Hurricane Melissa's Epicenter

This mayor of the town of Black River – a community referred to as “the epicenter” for Hurricane Melissa – has detailed the immense flooding and extensive devastation caused by the catastrophe.

Speaking on the harrowing ordeal, the mayor recalled riding out the Category 5 hurricane at an emergency response center.

“The entire town of this area is devastated,” he stated. “The destruction is so severe that the national leader designated this area as the worst-hit zone.”

Several people from the town are confirmed to have died, but Solomon noted receiving word of additional deaths that are still being verified due to connectivity and travel difficulties.

“The hurricane arrived around 8 a.m. and lasted for around several hours, during which we were pounded with heavy winds and torrential rainfall,” he explained.

“We got up to 16ft of water at the response center. It was a frightening moment for us, and we were hoping 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 terrifying experience for us.”

Solomon stated that the town, located in the hard-hit south-western parish of the area, is lacking running water and electricity, and most structures have had their roofs. One official previously characterized the town as flooded, with more than 500,000 inhabitants without power. A landslide has obstructed the primary routes of Santa Cruz, where roadways have been reduced to muddy tracks. Locals are now sweeping water from their houses and attempting to salvage their belongings.

Rescue efforts and damage assessments have become almost impossible because every one of the town’s transport and critical services such as firefighting, police, hospitals and supermarkets were “immensely damaged,” notes Solomon.

He is now concentrating on trying to help the most vulnerable, while also dealing with the personal impact of the devastation.

“My vehicle was completely submerged by water. My roof went, so I do understand the suffering that people are experiencing, but what is a key focus for me now is to focus on securing assistance for the most vulnerable at this time,” he says.

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

“Efforts are underway to get the major thoroughfares and secondary routes here so that we can deliver aid in. Most of our supermarkets, if not all, were impacted negatively so they will be unable to offer goods to persons who are in dire straits at this time,” he adds.

National leadership has seen the devastation 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 task to rebuild Black River. But while it is destroyed, we can envision a tomorrow of it emerging stronger and improved,” he told local media.

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