THE vast majority of buildings in St Elizabeth were left without roofs on Tuesday as the marauding Category 5 Hurricane Melissa mowed through the parish, leaving historic capital Black River a shell of its former self.

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness provided the update on Wednesday following a flyover of sections of the parish earlier in the morning.

“I flew over the south coast of St Elizabeth, into Black River, and from Treasure Beach to this point [Black River] and we could easily say between 80 to 90 per cent of the roofs were destroyed [and] a significant number of buildings were damaged,” said Holness.

“On the ground the impact is even more palpable. We are standing in close proximity to the Black River Hospital and that has been totally destroyed, along with several other buildings, including historic buildings, churches, courthouse, the parish council building, and older heritage buildings, have been destroyed,” added Holness.

He noted that the entire electricity grid of Black River was wiped out by Melissa, while the telecommunication system was also severely impacted.

“We see one tower damaged, we are not certain if the other one is operable, so the entire infrastructure, and everything needed for the convenience of modern living, is destroyed here in Black River.

“The people are still coming to grips with the destruction, but from what I have seen, and the interaction, the people here are strong, resilient, and positive enough in outlook,” said Holness.

According to the prime minister, the Government intends to move the necessary emergency relief to the people of St Elizabeth.

“The first effort in this regard is to clear the roadways to allow for vehicular traffic, not just to allow people to come in and visit relatives who they cannot get into contact with, but to bring in much-needed supplies,” said Holness.

“It is going to be a massive task to rebuild Black River, this historic town, but while it is destroyed we can vision a future of it rising stronger and better because the truth is that many of the buildings were not located properly in the first place. They were in vulnerable areas [and] we will now take the opportunity to properly reorganise the town and to build back even stronger,” declared Holness.

This handout satellite image by Vantor taken on February 9, 2025 shows an overview of Black River, Jamaica, before Hurricane Melissa.