Mayor Leading Recovery Efforts at Hurricane Melissa's Ground Zero

This mayor of the town of Black River – an area referred to as “ground zero” for the devastating storm – has detailed the immense storm surges and extensive devastation wrought by the disaster.

Reflecting on the harrowing experience, Richard Solomon described enduring the intense storm at an emergency response center.

“The entire town of this area is devastated,” he said. “And that devastation is so severe that the prime minister designated this area as ground zero.”

Five individuals from the town are confirmed to have died, but Solomon noted hearing reports of other deaths that are still being verified due to connectivity and transportation difficulties.

“The hurricane came around 8 a.m. and continued for around nine hours, during which we were pounded with heavy winds and a lot of rain,” he added.

“We experienced up to 16ft of flooding at the response center. It was a frightening moment for us, and we were praying that it would not rise any further, because we were on the upper level, and frankly, when we saw the water rising, it was a terrifying moment for us.”

The mayor explained that Black River, located in the severely affected southwest region of the area, is lacking running water and power, and the majority of buildings have lost their roofing. One official earlier described the town as under water, with over 500,000 inhabitants without power. A mudslide has obstructed the primary routes of Santa Cruz, where roadways have been reduced to mud pits. Locals are now sweeping water from their houses and trying to salvage their belongings.

Search and rescue operations and evaluations have proven extremely difficult because all the town’s vehicles and critical services such as fire, police, hospitals and supermarkets were “severely damaged,” notes the mayor.

The mayor is now focused on working to help the neediest residents, while also dealing with the individual toll of the disaster.

“The mayor's car was totally covered by water. My roof went, so I fully grasp the pain that people are experiencing, but what is a priority for me now is to focus on securing aid relief for the most at-risk at this time,” he says.

The mayor believes that it will take billions of local currency to rebuild the community after the hurricane's destruction. For now, he states, the priority is clearing blocked routes, which have isolated the town.

“Efforts are underway to get the main roads and critical lateral roads here so that we can deliver relief supplies in. The majority of our supermarkets, if not all, were impacted negatively so they won’t be able to provide supplies to persons who are in dire straits at this moment,” he adds.

National leadership has seen the devastation first-hand, with an aerial tour of the area showing the vast majority of roofs in the area had been destroyed.

“It is going to be a enormous undertaking to rebuild this historic town. But while it is destroyed, we can envision a future of it rising stronger and improved,” he told reporters.

“It will be accomplished. So keep the optimism, keep hope alive, and we will get through this, and we will reconstruct stronger,” he affirmed.