Hurricane Melissa leaves residents reeling

It was a treacherous journey to Black River, a coastal town in Jamaica's south-western parish of St Elizabeth, which this week bore the brunt of Hurricane Melissa, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record.

- Natricia Duncan

Uprooted trees and lampposts, rubble from landslides, huge potholes and miles of thick, slippery silt from severe flooding had turned the route into a dangerous obstacle course. But most daunting was the water you encountered as you passed through communities that, overnight, had become rivers.

The difficult conditions meant chaos on the roads to Black River on Thursday, with vehicles stalling in the water, clean-up crews trying to start the seemingly impossible journey to recovery and police and army personnel attempting to manage the long line of slow-moving traffic in both directions.

And, along the way, mind-boggling destruction to buildings and homes, some of which were gutted and packed with debris.

As you got closer to Black River, which has been branded ground zero for the category 5 hurricane's destruction, it became clear that almost every building in the vicinity had lost its roof. The town centre had been annihilated and resembled a demolition site.

Among the crumpled buildings and streets filled with zinc sheets from roofs and other dangerous debris, were people-traumatised, grieving and desperate for help.

Families with children who appeared to be setting up camp in a bus shelter and others scouring the debris for food pointed to an unfolding humanitarian crisis.

Some had come to Black River, St Elizabeth's parish capital, from nearby devastated areas, hoping to find aid, only to discover a scene of utter devastation.