‘I don’t know what to do now’
Vendor feels defeated after losing home, business to Melissa
Food vendor Vanburn Black says having to start life again at 73-years-old, following the passage of Hurricane Melissa, is unimaginable.
“I don’t know what to do right now, I don’t know where to start from,” Black lamented while sitting in the ruins of Black River Market, alongside several other vendors last Thursday, watching as people, desperate for relief supplies, looted supermarkets and other stores in the historic town that took the brunt of Melissa’s wrath.
He took the Jamaica Observer to his stall which he operated as a cook shop specialising in seafood and selling alcohol.
“You can see, most of the things are outside, I washed it out. Even now I haven’t finished washing it out, everything wet up-wet up. I lost a whole heap of things, but a so it go,” Black said.
The open air market was flooded during the hurricane, much like the rest of the town, by what residents say were waves taller than them.
“The Black River market is made of high beams, and it bent the high beams like nothing, like bending a straw,” a fireman, who said he was traumatised by the events, explained.
Melissa’s 185 miles per hour winds ripped apart the roof of the structure, pushed the beams sideways and deposited twisted pieces of galvanised sheeting onto the lawn of the fire station next door.
Black said his home in New Town, Black River, didn’t fare much better.
“Well, I don’t have a house right now, it gone…” he said.
Melissa’s 185 miles per hour winds ripped apart the roof of the Black River Market.
On Thursday, many vendors were in the remains of the market cleaning their metal stalls, some of which miraculously survived the Category 5 storm’s assault on the seaside town.
Many of them did not want to be quoted but shared similar stories of being homeless and out of work as the market is no longer safe to inhabit.
The structure had been due for a facelift as well. Member of Parliament for St Elizabeth South Western Floyd Green had indicated in August this year that a contract for the work had already been issued.
Residents also pointed to a gully-like area across from the market that was filled with twisted metal that turned out to be brand new washers and dryers along with sofas.
The appliances had been pushed out of a Courts store on the seaside, one street over, after the water shattered the glass windows.
The losses that the vendors experienced were also felt by many business owners. Akeeno Ebanks, who runs Ebanks Hardware with his father, said: “There’s a lot of damage here… we have lost about $15 million to $20 million worth of goods from our business place.”
While the loss was due to looting and the storm, Ebanks was up and about on the road assisting people to get essentials and clearing roads.
