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This mayor of the town of Black River – an area described as “ground zero” for Hurricane Melissa – has shared the monstrous flooding and extensive devastation caused by the disaster.

Reflecting on the harrowing experience, the mayor recalled enduring the intense hurricane at an emergency response center.

“The entire town of Black River is devastated,” he said. “The destruction is so catastrophic that the national leader classified this area as ground zero.”

Several people from the town are reported dead, but Solomon mentioned receiving word of additional deaths that remain unconfirmed due to communication and travel challenges.

“Storm Melissa came around 8 a.m. and continued for around several hours, during which we were pounded with heavy winds and torrential rainfall,” he explained.

“We got up to 4.8 metres of flooding at the response center. It was a bit scary for us, and we were hoping that it would not increase any further, because we were on the second floor, and frankly, when we saw the water climbing, it was a scary experience for us.”

The mayor explained that Black River, located in the severely affected south-western region of the area, is lacking water and power, and most buildings have had their roofing. An authority previously described the town as flooded, with more than 500,000 residents without power. A mudslide has blocked the primary routes of Santa Cruz, where streets have been turned 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 fire, police, hospitals and grocery stores were “severely damaged,” says the mayor.

He is now concentrating on trying to help the most vulnerable, while also coping with the individual toll of the devastation.

“The mayor's car was completely 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 securing aid relief for the most at-risk at this point,” he says.

The mayor believes that it will take millions of Jamaican dollars to restore the community after the hurricane's destruction. For now, he says, the priority is clearing blocked routes, which have isolated the town.

“Efforts are underway to clear the main roads and critical lateral roads here so that we can get aid in. Most of our supermarkets, if not all, were severely affected so they won’t be able to provide supplies to individuals who are in need at this time,” he says.

National leadership has witnessed the damage personally, with an flyover of the region showing the vast majority of roofs in the area had been destroyed.

“This will be a enormous task to restore this historic town. But although it is damaged, we can envision a tomorrow of it emerging more resilient and better,” he told local media.

“We will get it done. So keep the positive outlook, keep hope alive, and we will get through this, and we will reconstruct stronger,” he said.