ST ELIZABETH, Jamaica — Mayor of Black River, Richard Solomon, says the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa in St Elizabeth is nothing short of “catastrophic”, as the parish is faced with severe damage and limited communication.

“The conditions here are devastating, catastrophic is a mild term based on what we are observing,” Solomon said.

He noted that emergency and security forces are struggling to respond due to flooding and damage to the infrastructure. According to Solomon, the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) is currently “immobile” and is only able to communicate through Starlink satellite internet.

A clearly distressed Solomon revealed that the hospital has been “totally devastated”.

“Police units are down, all the units at the EOC (Emergency Operations Centre) are down because they would have been covered with water throughout the hurricane,” Solomon said.

“At this point in time we are unable to do any rescuing, we are unable to respond, so we are trying to let everybody know that the situation here is devastating. We need all the help we can, and conditions are going to deteriorate as the day progresses because persons are feeling it already,” he continued.

Solomon urged residents to remain calm in such frustrating times.

“It is a frustrating time, but we are appealing for calm as we try to respond to this as best as possible,” he said.