People walk along muddied roads scavenging the wreckage for food. Others jump into damaged stores in the hope of finding bottled water or other supplies. As the death toll rises, residents of Black River are still searching for loved ones while they also battle to survive, days after Hurricane Melissa made this Jamaican port city ground zero of the devastation seen across the Caribbean. Residents here say they have been living in a state of chaos the last three days since Melissa slammed into them as one of the most powerful category five storms ever recorded in the region.
The fierce winds and storm surge that barrelled through here have decimated nearly everything, leaving roads unusable and a trail of destruction that has them increasingly desperate and isolated with no electricity or running water. Capsized boats lie kerbside. Brick buildings are split in half. Giant sheets of metal are twisted between tree branches. Vehicles sit in crumbled pieces. Residents who spoke to the BBC said they have seen no aid trucks in the area so far and described having to eat what food they can find in debris by the roads in the coastal town, nearly 150km (93 miles) west of the capital, Kingston. Others made their way inside battered supermarkets, taking what they could for themselves. We have to use whatever we see here, on the street and also in the supermarket, Demar Walker explained, sitting in a shaded area down the street from the store to escape the heat and 80% humidity.
He said he and others had to climb into the market due to its roof caving in and took what they could. They tossed water and items to others also in need. We had to throw food to other people. Nearby, others told the BBC of a local pharmacy being looted in Black River, describing anarchy as people ran in and out carrying armfuls of drugs and alcohol. I saw items covered in mud being hauled out, Aldwayne Tomlinson told the BBC. At first, I thought the place was still open, but then I really got a second glance. I heard a lady say: 'Mi need go get some alcohol.' That's when I knew they were looting the pharmacy as well.
Just down the road, a woman standing atop a pile of debris describes the situation there as chaos, chaos. Total. No food. No water. We don't have access to money. We need help. No help has come, Chegun Braham continued. One couple told the BBC that they owned multiple stores in the area, several of which they said had been looted. They are now standing guard outside one of their stores in the hope of preventing future thefts.
A short walk from the market, Jimmy Esson leaned against a massive metal beam that had been knocked to the ground. I lost everything, all my things, he said. We need food. We have no food. Survival is the primary concern on most people's minds here. The other is the rising death toll. Officials in Jamaica said on Thursday that at least 19 people had died in the country, a big jump from the five that had been counted the day before. Another 30 have died in neighbouring Haiti due to the storm.
My community, we have dead bodies there, Mr Walker said. He said he, like many others in the area, still has not heard from family and doesn't know if they made it out of the storm alive. Mr Walker is stuck in Black River, sleeping in whoever's house is still standing that will accept him, he says, while his eight-year-old son is in Westmoreland, the next parish over.
The entire town of Black River is devastated, the town's Mayor Richard Solomon has said. He noted to local media the desperation of residents who are looting and - while not condoning it - said he understood why it was happening. Local officials estimate that 90% of the houses here were destroyed. Much of the town's vital infrastructure has been destroyed too, including the local hospital, police station and fire station. Aid supplies are starting to arrive more rapidly to the main airport in Kingston, but smaller regional airports - some of which are located near where humanitarian assistance is most needed - remain only partly operational.
Aid agencies and the military are bringing in the urgently needed supplies from Kingston by land but many roads remain unpassable in places, including in places like Black River. The town is about a two-hour drive from Kingston but the main road in is - at various points - flooded, damaged and clogged with cars. Michael Tharkurdeen, a local medic, was in the town's fire station when the storm hit. We were upstairs, the entire bottom floor was flooded. The water was around maybe four feet going five feet. When the water came in, the seas came in, flooded everywhere, he said.
By mid-afternoon on Friday, a fleet of military helicopters flew into Black River - with many hoping they came with desperately needed supplies. Armed officials carrying machine guns descended onto the streets and soon the crowds rummaging the looted pharmacy and grocery store had cleared. A line of cars that had jammed the sole road in the area had been cleared. A relative quiet replaced the noise and chaos of hundreds of people fighting for their survival. St Elizabeth, we want it to come back again, Shawn Morris said of the area's future and his hopes to get aid here. It's not about the money, he said. We need food and water.\
The fierce winds and storm surge that barrelled through here have decimated nearly everything, leaving roads unusable and a trail of destruction that has them increasingly desperate and isolated with no electricity or running water. Capsized boats lie kerbside. Brick buildings are split in half. Giant sheets of metal are twisted between tree branches. Vehicles sit in crumbled pieces. Residents who spoke to the BBC said they have seen no aid trucks in the area so far and described having to eat what food they can find in debris by the roads in the coastal town, nearly 150km (93 miles) west of the capital, Kingston. Others made their way inside battered supermarkets, taking what they could for themselves. We have to use whatever we see here, on the street and also in the supermarket, Demar Walker explained, sitting in a shaded area down the street from the store to escape the heat and 80% humidity.
He said he and others had to climb into the market due to its roof caving in and took what they could. They tossed water and items to others also in need. We had to throw food to other people. Nearby, others told the BBC of a local pharmacy being looted in Black River, describing anarchy as people ran in and out carrying armfuls of drugs and alcohol. I saw items covered in mud being hauled out, Aldwayne Tomlinson told the BBC. At first, I thought the place was still open, but then I really got a second glance. I heard a lady say: 'Mi need go get some alcohol.' That's when I knew they were looting the pharmacy as well.
Just down the road, a woman standing atop a pile of debris describes the situation there as chaos, chaos. Total. No food. No water. We don't have access to money. We need help. No help has come, Chegun Braham continued. One couple told the BBC that they owned multiple stores in the area, several of which they said had been looted. They are now standing guard outside one of their stores in the hope of preventing future thefts.
A short walk from the market, Jimmy Esson leaned against a massive metal beam that had been knocked to the ground. I lost everything, all my things, he said. We need food. We have no food. Survival is the primary concern on most people's minds here. The other is the rising death toll. Officials in Jamaica said on Thursday that at least 19 people had died in the country, a big jump from the five that had been counted the day before. Another 30 have died in neighbouring Haiti due to the storm.
My community, we have dead bodies there, Mr Walker said. He said he, like many others in the area, still has not heard from family and doesn't know if they made it out of the storm alive. Mr Walker is stuck in Black River, sleeping in whoever's house is still standing that will accept him, he says, while his eight-year-old son is in Westmoreland, the next parish over.
The entire town of Black River is devastated, the town's Mayor Richard Solomon has said. He noted to local media the desperation of residents who are looting and - while not condoning it - said he understood why it was happening. Local officials estimate that 90% of the houses here were destroyed. Much of the town's vital infrastructure has been destroyed too, including the local hospital, police station and fire station. Aid supplies are starting to arrive more rapidly to the main airport in Kingston, but smaller regional airports - some of which are located near where humanitarian assistance is most needed - remain only partly operational.
Aid agencies and the military are bringing in the urgently needed supplies from Kingston by land but many roads remain unpassable in places, including in places like Black River. The town is about a two-hour drive from Kingston but the main road in is - at various points - flooded, damaged and clogged with cars. Michael Tharkurdeen, a local medic, was in the town's fire station when the storm hit. We were upstairs, the entire bottom floor was flooded. The water was around maybe four feet going five feet. When the water came in, the seas came in, flooded everywhere, he said.
By mid-afternoon on Friday, a fleet of military helicopters flew into Black River - with many hoping they came with desperately needed supplies. Armed officials carrying machine guns descended onto the streets and soon the crowds rummaging the looted pharmacy and grocery store had cleared. A line of cars that had jammed the sole road in the area had been cleared. A relative quiet replaced the noise and chaos of hundreds of people fighting for their survival. St Elizabeth, we want it to come back again, Shawn Morris said of the area's future and his hopes to get aid here. It's not about the money, he said. We need food and water.\
