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This mayor of the town of Black River – a community described as “the epicenter” for Hurricane Melissa – has shared the immense storm surges and widespread destruction wrought by the catastrophe.

Speaking on the traumatic ordeal, the mayor described enduring the intense hurricane at an emergency response center.

“Our community of this area is devastated,” he said. “The destruction is so catastrophic that the national leader classified this area as the worst-hit zone.”

Five individuals from the town are confirmed to have died, but Solomon mentioned hearing reports of additional fatalities that are still being verified due to communication and transportation difficulties.

“The hurricane came around 8 a.m. and lasted for around several hours, during which we were pounded with strong gusts and a lot of rain,” he added.

“We got up to 16ft of flooding at the emergency operating centre. That was a bit scary for us, and we were praying that it would not rise any more, because we were on the second floor, and frankly, when we saw the water rising, it was a terrifying moment for us.”

Solomon stated that Black River, situated in the hard-hit southwest parish of St Elizabeth, is lacking water and electricity, and most structures have had their roofing. One official earlier characterized the town as flooded, with more than half a million residents without power. A landslide has blocked the main roads of Santa Cruz, where roadways have been reduced to mud pits. Locals are now removing water from their houses and trying to rescue their possessions.

Search and rescue operations and evaluations have proven extremely difficult because all the town’s transport and critical services such as firefighting, police, hospitals and supermarkets were “severely damaged,” says Solomon.

He is now focused on trying to assist the most vulnerable, while also dealing with the individual toll of the disaster.

“The mayor's car was totally submerged by water. My roof went, so I fully grasp the pain that persons 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 explains.

Solomon believes that it will take millions of local currency to restore Black River after Melissa’s annihilation. For now, he says, the priority is removing debris from impassable roads, which have cut off the town.

“We are now trying to clear the major thoroughfares and critical lateral roads here so that we can deliver aid 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 need at this moment,” he says.

National leadership has witnessed the devastation personally, with an flyover of the region showing 80 to 90% of roofs in the area had been lost.

“This will be a massive undertaking to rebuild Black River. But while it is destroyed, we can vision a future of it rising stronger and better,” he told local media.

“It will be accomplished. So keep the positive outlook, keep hope alive, and we will overcome this challenge, and we will reconstruct stronger,” he said.