SIX MONTHS IN THE DARK

WESTERN BUREAU:

Six months after the devastation of Hurricane Melissa, residents of the small coastal community of Parottee in St Elizabeth say their most urgent needs are the restoration of electricity and access to water, as recovery continues at a slow pace.

“We have a big issue here with water and light, but water is our main issue, and water is life,” said Sandra Linton-Jones, a 62-year-old fish vendor who sells at the Black River Fish Market.

“We need somebody to help us. Maybe once a week, just go from house to house and give us a little water,” she pleaded, calling on the authorities to truck potable water into the community. “Most of us have gotten used to living life the old-fashioned ways; we can live without the light a little longer, but not the water.”

Before Hurricane Melissa struck last October, Linton-Jones said Parottee had reliable access to potable water. Today, many residents say the supply remains inconsistent, forcing them to struggle daily to meet basic household needs.

When contacted about the water crisis, Richard Solomon, mayor of Black River and chairman of the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation, said the council would explore how best it can assist residents, including the possibility of trucking water into the community.

“I will see what we can do as a council to get some water to these citizens,” Solomon told The Gleaner.

St Elizabeth was among the hardest-hit parishes when Hurricane Melissa battered sections of Jamaica’s south coast.

Post-disaster assessments indicate that the parish recorded more than US$2.2 billion in physical damage, including nearly US$1 billion in residential losses alone. Infrastructure damage exceeded US$760 million, while the agriculture sector – a major pillar of the parish’s economy – suffered losses estimated at more than US$135 million.

Satellite damage assessments also showed that nearly 65 per cent of buildings in affected sections of St Elizabeth sustained some level of damage, highlighting the scale of destruction across communities such as Parottee and nearby Black River.

Nationally, total damage and losses associated with the passage of Hurricane Melissa are estimated at $1.952 trillion (US$12.2 billion), according to the Planning Institute of Jamaica. This figure is equivalent to 56.7 per cent of Jamaica’s 2024 gross domestic product.

“I am 62 years old and was born and grew up here in Parottee. All the hurricanes that passed, I never moved out,” Linton-Jones said. “But if somebody calls me now and says another hurricane is coming, I will run away from here. No more not catching me here.”

She recalled the terrifying moment when seawater surged into her home.

“The seawater caught me in my house way up here,” she said, pointing to her upper body.

The storm destroyed nearly everything she owned. Her house was badly damaged, her solar panels were ripped away, and five freezers filled with fish, the backbone of her livelihood, were lost.

“I am a fish vendor; I sell at the Black River Fish Market. All are gone,” Linton-Jones said.

Despite her losses, she now manages a solar-powered container donated by the United Nations Development Programme, which provides freezer storage for fisherfolk in the community.

“We have three freezers in there,” she explained of the container, which is powered by eight solar panels and supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Mining. “When fishermen go to sea and catch fish, we put them down [and] set up ice. We also allow people to charge their phones here, free of cost.”

The system relies on small-scale solar power and weekly ice deliveries supported by fisheries and other donors. “We are so grateful,” she said, in reference to the temporary cold storage.

For fisherman Michael Kelly, who has spent more than 20 years at sea, life has also been far from normal since the storm.

“It was really rough,” he recalled. “The roof went off. Everything is gone.”

But beyond the destruction of homes and livelihoods, Kelly said the hurricane’s fury also disturbed the resting places of the dead.

He explained that four graves once stood behind the house he now oversees, but the floodwaters uprooted two of them.

“Outside of those two, many other graves in the community were washed away,” he said solemnly.

But even now, basic services remain unreliable.

“Six months later, it’s not normal. No electricity, no water,” Kelly said.

With the Atlantic hurricane season set to begin on June 1, residents say anxiety is once again building across the fragile coastal settlement.

“I am fretting right now,” Linton-Jones admitted. “My mind is wondering what’s going to be the next step if another hurricane comes.”

Yet amid the uncertainty, she said faith has helped her endure the difficult months since the storm. “Two weeks after Melissa, I said, ‘Why worry when you can pray?’”

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com