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The mayor of the town of Black River – an area referred to as “the epicenter” for the devastating storm – has detailed the immense flooding and widespread devastation wrought by the disaster.

Reflecting on the traumatic experience, Richard Solomon described riding out the intense hurricane at an emergency operating centre.

“Our community of Black River is in ruins,” he stated. “The destruction is so catastrophic that the prime minister classified this area as the worst-hit zone.”

Five individuals from the town are reported to have died, but the mayor noted receiving word of additional deaths that are still being verified due to communication and travel difficulties.

“Storm Melissa arrived 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 explained.

“We got up to 16ft of water at the emergency operating centre. It was a bit scary 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 rising, it was a scary experience for us.”

The mayor explained that the town, situated in the severely affected southwest parish of St Elizabeth, is without water and electricity, and most buildings have lost their roofing. One official previously characterized the town as flooded, with over 500,000 residents lacking electricity. A landslide has blocked the primary routes of a nearby area, where roadways have been turned to mud pits. Residents are now removing water from their houses and trying to salvage their possessions.

Search and rescue operations and damage assessments have proven extremely difficult because all the town’s vehicles and essential facilities such as firefighting, police, medical centers and supermarkets were “immensely damaged,” notes the mayor.

He is now concentrating on working to assist the neediest residents, while also dealing with the individual toll of the disaster.

“My vehicle was completely submerged by water. The roofing was lost, so I do understand the suffering that persons are feeling, but what is a key focus for me now is to concentrate on getting assistance for the most vulnerable at this point,” he explains.

The mayor believes that it will take billions of local currency to restore the community after the hurricane's annihilation. For now, he states, the main goal is removing debris from impassable roads, which have cut off the town.

“Efforts are underway to clear the main roads and secondary routes here so that we can get aid in. Most 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 revealing 80 to 90% of roofs in the area had been lost.

“This will be a massive undertaking to restore Black River. But while it is destroyed, we can vision a tomorrow of it rising more resilient and better,” he informed reporters.

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