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The mayor of Black River – an area referred to as “ground zero” for Hurricane Melissa – has shared the immense storm surges and extensive destruction caused by the catastrophe.

Speaking on the traumatic experience, the mayor described riding out the intense storm at an emergency operating centre.

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

Several people from the town are reported to have died, but the mayor mentioned hearing reports of additional fatalities that remain unconfirmed due to communication and travel challenges.

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

“We got up to 16ft of flooding at the response center. It was a bit scary for us, and we were hoping that it would not rise any more, because we were on the upper level, and I tell you, when we saw the water rising, it was a terrifying moment for us.”

The mayor stated that Black River, located in the hard-hit south-western parish of St Elizabeth, is lacking running water and power, and most buildings have had their roofs. One official previously described the town as flooded, with more than 500,000 residents without power. A mudslide has blocked the primary routes of a nearby area, where streets have been turned to muddy tracks. Locals are now sweeping water from their homes and trying to rescue their belongings.

Search and rescue operations and damage assessments have proven extremely difficult because all the town’s vehicles and essential facilities such as firefighting, law enforcement, hospitals and grocery stores were “immensely damaged,” says Solomon.

He is now focused on working to help the neediest residents, while also coping 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 people are feeling, but what is a priority 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 millions of Jamaican dollars to restore the community after the hurricane's destruction. For now, he says, the priority is removing debris from impassable roads, which have isolated the town.

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

The prime minister has seen the devastation personally, with an flyover of the region showing the vast majority of roofs in the area had been destroyed.

“It is going to be a enormous undertaking to rebuild Black River. But while it is destroyed, we can envision a future of it rising more resilient and improved,” he told reporters.

“We will get it done. So keep the optimism, remain hopeful, and we will get through this, and we will reconstruct stronger,” he affirmed.