LLANDILO, Westmoreland — A community leader in this parish has likened the devastation left behind by Hurricane Melissa to a war zone that will take years to rebuild.

“Westmoreland has been hit like when a bomb from over Israel dropped on Gaza,” argued president of the Cooke Street Benevolence Society Bishop Oneil Russell.

The area covered by the benevolent society includes the communities of Cooke Street, Coke Street, Lower Darling Street, and Queen Street, in the parish capital Savanna-la-Mar, which was hard hit by the Category 5 Hurricane Melissa.

While Russell is happy that so far there have been no reports of lives lost in the area the level of destruction he saw was too much for him to contain his tears and misgivings about when normal activities will resume in the area.

“It is going to take us years to build back. It is so bad. It is going to take us years to even get something back. We need help even more than what we are getting now. We need someone to deliver stuff to the community — house to house. We need the agencies, the authority to do more than they are doing. We know they are trying but we are calling just to do a little more,” said Russell.

As a trained first responder through the Community Disaster Response Team (CDRT), Russell and his colleagues decided to remain in the community and sit out the storm. While the eye of the storm made landfall about midday on Tuesday, October 28 near New Hope in the parish, it was around 2:00 pm that things became too much for him to bear in Savanna-la-Mar.

“The storm picked up and all I could see were houses breaking in pieces and zinc flying all over the community. My church is flat — The Ark of the Covenant Apostolic Church which is located on 29 Queen Street, Savanna-la-Mar. I also lost zinc from my house, I lost clothes, furniture…I lost everything,” declared Russell as he underscored that the community was shattered by Melissa.

“I mean, every house that has a zinc roof was destroyed. Some of them [board houses] the wind just lifted the houses and dropped them back. They burst into pieces. It is an experience that is devastating. I am trying to get over it, but not yet,” added Russell.

In circumstances such as these Russell, a justice of the peace (JP) would be among the first to offer counselling to those in need but he admits that this time it is difficult.

“I tell you something, as a JP and a minister of religion, you cannot show that level where you want counselling. You have to show bravery and when you go in your own space, you are able to breathe a sigh of relief. You cannot give the impression that you are broken down, even though we are and even though I am,” added Russell who was part of a group which recently received psychological first aid training.

He told the Jamaica Observer that this is helping him to cope but members of the wider community need psychological assistance.

Russell pointed out that Melissa has left residents of the area without basic necessities such as water, electricity, communications and roads and he has been sharing his home Internet service via Wi-Fi with community members for them to communicate with their loved ones.

“The roads are blocked but people in the community have helped to free up some of the space. That is what we have to do. We can’t sit down and wait for first responders to come. We are in the line so we have to do it.

“What I have been doing is to help some people as the benevolence society president to provide clothes for them, even though I myself need them. But, I have been doing it for others. Money to get food and other stuff is what I have been doing,” stated Russell, who noted that medical assistance is also needed in the community.

“What I want to say to the authorities, there are places like Queen Street where we haven’t seen anybody, nobody has come to assess our damage, nobody to come and talk to the people. We have people who were injured from nails and zinc but nobody to help them. We need people like the medics in the community, we do,” argued Russell.

In the meantime Tyress Small, a resident of Darling Street, shared his experience with the Observer when we caught up while personnel on a United States S helicopter delivered food and bottled drinking water at the Llandilo Community Centre in the parish on Tuesday.

Small was lying in his bed when the roof over his head was taken by the wind associated with Melissa.

He had to run approximately 200 feet in the heavy wind and rain to seek shelter from another family member.

According to Small, while running he would hold on to utility poles and other objects when the wind was really heavy and resume his journey whenever it subsided even a little.

“I was actually sleeping when the hurricane hit, I only heard when my roof lifted. The house was flooded, [and] a lot of zinc [was] back and forth. It was very serious,” said Small as he pointed out that he ran to the house of a family member leaving everything inside his house to be destroyed by the wind and rain.

He said most people in his community are now homeless and hoping that assistance will come to help them rebuild.

President of the Cooke Street Benevolence Society Bishop Oneil Russell is struggling to deal with the devastation he has seeing in Savanna-la-Mar following Hurricane Melissa. (Photo: Anthony Lewis)

Tyress Small, a resident of Darling Street, Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, recounts the drama as he fled his house after his roof went during the passage of Hurricane Melissa. (Photo: Anthony Lewis)