Mayor Guiding Rebuilding Work at Storm Melissa's Ground Zero
The mayor of the town of Black River – an area described as “ground zero” for the devastating storm – has detailed the monstrous flooding and widespread devastation wrought by the catastrophe.
Reflecting on the harrowing experience, the mayor recalled enduring the intense storm at an emergency operating centre.
“Our community of Black River is in ruins,” he stated. “The destruction is so severe that the prime minister designated this area as ground zero.”
Several people from Black River are confirmed dead, but the mayor mentioned hearing reports of additional deaths that are still being verified due to communication and transportation challenges.
“The hurricane came around eight in the morning and lasted for around several hours, during which we were pounded with heavy winds and torrential rainfall,” 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 hoping 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 experience for us.”
The mayor stated that the town, situated in the hard-hit south-western parish of St Elizabeth, is lacking water and electricity, and the majority of buildings have lost their roofs. An authority previously described the town as flooded, with more than 500,000 residents lacking electricity. A landslide has obstructed the primary routes of a nearby area, where roadways have been reduced to mud pits. Residents are now sweeping water from their houses and attempting to salvage their belongings.
Search and rescue operations and damage assessments have proven almost impossible because all the town’s vehicles and critical services such as firefighting, police, medical centers and supermarkets were “severely damaged,” says the mayor.
The mayor is now concentrating on trying to help the most vulnerable, while also dealing with the individual toll of the disaster.
“The mayor's car was totally submerged by water. My roof was lost, so I do understand the suffering that persons are experiencing, but what is a key focus for me now is to concentrate on getting aid relief for the most vulnerable at this point,” he explains.
Solomon believes that it will take billions of local currency to rebuild Black River after the hurricane's destruction. For now, he states, the priority is clearing blocked routes, which have isolated the town.
“We are now trying to get the major thoroughfares and critical lateral roads here so that we can deliver aid in. Most of our supermarkets, if not all, were impacted negatively so they won’t be able to offer goods to individuals who are in need at this moment,” he says.
The prime minister has seen the damage personally, with an flyover of the area revealing the vast majority of buildings in the area had been destroyed.
“This will be a enormous task to restore Black River. But while it is damaged, we can vision a tomorrow of it rising more resilient and better,” he told reporters.
“It will be accomplished. So maintain the optimism, keep hope alive, and we will get through this, and we will rebuild better,” he affirmed.
