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This mayor of the town of Black River – a community referred to as “ground zero” for Hurricane Melissa – has detailed the immense storm surges and widespread destruction caused by the disaster.

Speaking on the traumatic experience, the mayor recalled enduring the Category 5 hurricane at an emergency response center.

“The entire town of this area is in ruins,” he said. “And that devastation is so catastrophic that the national leader classified this area as ground zero.”

Several people from the town are confirmed to have died, but Solomon noted receiving word of additional fatalities that remain unconfirmed due to communication and travel difficulties.

“Storm Melissa arrived around 8 a.m. and continued for around nine hours, during which we were battered with heavy winds and a lot of rain,” he explained.

“We experienced up to 4.8 metres of flooding at the emergency operating centre. That was a frightening moment for us, and we were praying that it would not increase any further, because we were on the upper level, and I tell you, when we saw the water rising, it was a scary experience for us.”

Solomon explained that Black River, located in the hard-hit southwest parish of St Elizabeth, is without running water and power, and most buildings have lost their roofing. One official earlier described the town as under water, with more than 500,000 residents without power. A mudslide has obstructed the primary routes of a nearby area, where streets have been reduced to mud pits. Locals are now removing water from their homes and attempting to salvage their belongings.

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

The mayor 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 totally submerged by water. The roofing was lost, so I fully grasp the suffering that persons are experiencing, but what is a priority for me now is to focus on securing assistance for the most vulnerable at this time,” he says.

The mayor believes that it will take millions of local currency to rebuild Black River after the hurricane's annihilation. For now, he says, the main goal is removing debris from impassable roads, which have cut off the town.

“We are now trying to clear the main roads and critical lateral roads here so that we can deliver aid in. The majority of our supermarkets, if not all, were severely affected so they will be unable to offer goods to persons who are in need at this moment,” he adds.

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

“It is going to be a massive undertaking to rebuild Black River. But although it is destroyed, we can vision a tomorrow of it rising stronger and better,” he informed local media.

“It will be accomplished. So keep the optimism, remain hopeful, and we will overcome this challenge, and we will reconstruct stronger,” he affirmed.