Days after Category 5 Hurricane Melissa wreaked havoc across Jamaica, the small community of New River in St. Elizabeth parish faces a grim reality: rising floodwaters, now tragically contaminated with dead livestock. This dire situation is compounding the immense challenges for residents attempting to recover from the powerful storm.
Carpenter Isaiah Beck, trying to reach his waterlogged home, was met with a horrifying sight. He recounted seeing deceased cows and hogs, explaining, “The water is starting to get infested. The water is coming from all sides.” This underscores the escalating health and environmental crisis engulfing the area.
The severity of the flooding in New River, where power has yet to be restored, appears to be exacerbated by a blocked drainage system. What residents initially hoped was the worst of the storm has transformed into a prolonged battle against encroaching, stagnant water. Homes that survived the initial hurricane force are now slowly succumbing to the inundation, with water levels continuing to climb significantly even days later.
Hurricane Melissa, recognized as one of the most ferocious storms ever recorded in the Atlantic, has left a trail of death and destruction across multiple Caribbean nations. In Jamaica alone, at least 19 lives have been lost, a number officials fear will tragically increase as rescue teams gain access to and search the hardest-hit zones. Neighboring Haiti also reports a devastating toll, with at least 30 fatalities, including children.
Jamaica’s information minister, Dana Morris Dixon, has pledged a full-scale national recovery effort from the “unimaginable” devastation. Her statements were made as new, “credible” reports emerged of additional bodies found in Westmoreland and St. Elizabeth parishes.
The St. Elizabeth infirmary offered a harrowing glimpse into the storm’s immediate impact. Head supervisor Bianca Mitchell-Smith recounted the terrifying ordeal of evacuating dozens of bedridden residents as a wall collapsed and the roof was ripped apart by the ferocious winds. She, along with other staff and Mr. Beck, heroically carried patients through rising waters to a safer administrative building. “They carried them on their backs,” she emphasized, a testament to their desperate courage. Mitchell-Smith recalled constantly reaffirming, “God, we are going to get through this. I don’t want anyone to lose their lives.”
Today, the infirmary’s campus is a scene of utter devastation, buried under thick, wet mud. The kitchen roof and the zinc roof over storage rooms were gone, along with all vital supplies. With only two cases of water left and a severe shortage of adult diapers and other crucial items, the facility is in dire straits. Assistant supervisor Veronic Roach-Elliott described it as “a catastrophe,” stating, “It was the first time I ever experienced anything like that.”
Elsewhere in New River, residents are grappling with the aftermath. Reginald Campbell, 64, was seen salvaging his soaked cushions and mattresses, trying to dry them in the sun, lamenting the “stink” from the persistent flooding. He echoed concerns that the blocked drainage system was directly responsible for the unceasing rise in water levels, expressing the community’s profound anxiety.
Delano Williams, an official from Jamaica’s water agency, confirmed a “total shutdown” of infrastructure in several parishes, including St. Elizabeth, where 90% of the agency’s systems were impacted. The challenges are immense, from individuals using chainsaws to clear fallen trees from power lines to the stark images of drone footage revealing dead livestock amidst submerged homes, where desperate residents hang their soaked belongings out to dry on any exposed patch of land.
The human element of the tragedy is poignantly illustrated by two barefoot, shirtless boys navigating knee-high water with their meager possessions balanced on their heads, unsure if they should continue. Weston Brown, an embalmer, visited a funeral home with a torn roof, expressing a grim certainty: “We are going to have more people dying… People are going to start dying from hunger.” The crisis in New River is far from over, with recovery efforts hampered by both the immediate dangers of flooding and the looming threat of disease and starvation.