Amid continuing fallout a year after Hurricane Melissa wreaked devastation and death in western Jamaica and beyond, we are relieved that four wards at Black River Hospital have been rebuilt and will be formally opened Wednesday (today).

We are at one with chief executive officer at the hospital, Mrs Diana Brown-Miller, who is giving thanks and seeing “light at the end of the tunnel…”

While memories of the hospital and the wider coastal town of Black River being torn apart will probably haunt Mrs Brown-Miller and others for the rest of their lives, she is highlighting positives.

“We are happy with what we are seeing now and where we are at,” she told our reporter in relation to the rebuild of the hospital located on the coastline, and which dates back to the 1800s.

“We had hoped that it would have been completed before [now], but we are building back better and are going to be more resilient,” she said.

Indeed! A year’s reflection and observation of rebuilding projects thus far should tell us that, in some cases, wholesale and very expensive relocation may not be necessary post-Melissa. The greatest need in some cases is to rebuild to specifications to withstand the elements, not least the sea.

In Black River, for example, Melissa’s reality was that, while ancient, heritage-site infrastructure, and the stylish, modern Black River Market were swept aside by giant waves driven by ferocious winds, a few buildings — clearly constructed with annual hurricane threat in mind — remain like beacons.

Quite correctly, attention is now acutely focused on areas, such as eastern Westmoreland and Black River, which were hit hardest by Melissa.

But also, residents of untouched, yet vulnerable communities across the land, and their leaders, need to recognise that, ‘but for the Grace of God’, they could’ve been in Melissa’s path. They too must contemplate building better and stronger.

In Black River, St Elizabeth’s capital, town elders, community leaders, and the Government need look no further than the municipal corporation’s meeting room which was formally opened in 2015.

Built of concrete and steel from base to roof, it stood firm when the sea came ashore, even as historic structures of wood and mortar were ripped to shreds.

The latter included iconic, elegant buildings on High Street, such as the courthouse, St John’s Anglican Church, and delightful Waterloo Guest House — heritage sites all.

The municipal meeting room, named in honour of former mayors of Black River, Messrs Jeremy Palmer and Everton Fisher — 25 feet wide and 40 feet long — is where scores of St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation staff have been accommodated for work since Melissa.

Everywhere across western Jamaica there seems to be consensus that post-hurricane reconstruction of homes, schools, other public and commercial infrastructure have moved too slowly.

We expect that as the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) finds its feet, rebuild will accelerate by leaps and bounds.

That said, it can’t be ignored that a persistent complaint has been of inadequate communication between those in charge and those most affected by the hurricane.

That has to change if, as Jamaicans, we are to pull in the same direction — not only after disasters, but in coping on all fronts in an increasingly challenging environment locally, globally, nature-based and otherwise.