The stories in the Sunday edition of this newspaper focused on the destruction wrought by Hurricane Beryl in Jamaica’s most southerly sections are nothing short of eye-opening.

Three confirmed deaths had already underlined the storm’s severity.

Also, it is now clear that for those closest to the eye of Beryl, which brushed Jamaica’s southern coastline — following a similar path to Hurricane Dean in 2007 and Ivan three years earlier — the trauma was well nigh indescribable.

For Jamaicans further inland, perhaps only those old enough to remember Hurricane Gilbert, which rampaged through the centre of the island in 1988, can relate to the terror felt by Mr and Mrs Everton and Josephine Martin.

The two sought shelter in their wall closet as Beryl’s ferocious winds removed their roof at Bellevue, Southfield, St Elizabeth.

“…It was like a strong man grabbed something and was shaking everything out of it, ” Mr Martin told our reporter Mr Kasey Williams.

Across southern Jamaica, more especially southerly sections of Clarendon, Manchester, St Elizabeth, and Westmoreland, high winds wrecked homes and commercial infrastructure, downed electricity poles and trees, which, in many instances, blocked roads.

We feel the despair of victims in Portland Cottage, southern Clarendon, who had similar experiences in 2004 (Ivan) and 2007 (Dean).

Despondent residents claim that two decades ago there was am unfulfilled promise of relocation.

We are touched by the reports of sacrifice by fire personnel who stayed on the front line during the storm only to later discover their own homes had been devastated. We know that much the same is true for many others across the emergency services.

We are heartened by the stories of neighbours looking out for each other, such as in Westmoreland, and of the Diaspora rallying to help not just Jamaicans but our Caribbean neighbours in this time of greatest need.

There is always the negative, such as people using the storm as cover to loot and destroy a newly built floating attraction in Ocho Rios, St Ann.

The cynicism of those who sought to justify criminality reminds us of an ever-lurking brutish side to people.

Obviously there is much we still do not know, such as the true extent of storm damage.

In southern areas particularly, lives have been turned upside down by the loss of basic services, including electricity, piped water, and telecoms/Internet.

Inevitably, attention is heavily focused on electricity provider Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) on which much else depend.

Available evidence suggests that sections of the deep south are likely to have a long wait for return of electricity.

However, residents of mostly untouched inland areas in even the hardest hit parishes are understandably growing impatient.

JPS should be very transparent and ultra-sensitive in communicating to its customers regarding challenges and plans for service restoration.

We think it’s reasonable to suggest that a release dated July 6 which outlined restoration work for that day in 10 regions, including Kingston and St Andrew, but which made no mention of hard-hit St Elizabeth and north coast parishes, St James and Trelawny, is not the way to go.