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The mayor of the town of Black River – a community referred to as “ground zero” for Hurricane Melissa – has shared the immense storm surges and extensive devastation wrought by the disaster.

Speaking on the harrowing ordeal, Richard Solomon described riding out the Category 5 hurricane at an emergency response center.

“The entire town of Black River is in ruins,” he said. “And that devastation is so catastrophic that the prime minister classified this area as the worst-hit zone.”

Five individuals from Black River are reported dead, but the mayor mentioned receiving word of additional fatalities that are still being verified due to communication and transportation challenges.

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

“We experienced up to 16ft of flooding at the response center. That was a bit scary 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 experience for us.”

Solomon stated that the town, situated in the hard-hit south-western parish of St Elizabeth, is lacking water and electricity, and most structures have had their roofs. One official earlier described the town as flooded, with more than 500,000 inhabitants without power. A landslide has obstructed the main roads of a nearby area, where streets have been turned to mud pits. Residents are now removing water from their homes and trying to rescue their possessions.

Rescue efforts and evaluations have become extremely difficult because all the town’s transport and critical services such as firefighting, police, hospitals and grocery stores were “immensely damaged,” says Solomon.

The mayor is now focused on working to help the most vulnerable, while also dealing with the personal impact of the disaster.

“The mayor's car was totally submerged by water. The roofing was lost, so I do understand the pain that people are feeling, but what is a key focus for me now is to focus on getting aid relief for the most at-risk at this point,” he says.

The mayor estimates that it will take millions of local currency to rebuild Black River after the hurricane's annihilation. For now, he states, the priority is clearing blocked routes, which have isolated the town.

“We are now trying to get the main roads and secondary routes here so that we can deliver relief supplies in. The majority of our stores, if not all, were impacted negatively so they won’t be able to offer goods to persons who are in need at this moment,” he adds.

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

“It is going to be a massive task to restore this historic town. But while it is damaged, we can envision a future of it rising more resilient and better,” he told local media.

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