The Black River Adventist Church, located in the capital of St Elizabeth, stands roofless and flooded after Hurricane Melissa tore through the area on October 28, damaging trees and property across one of the hardest-hit regions in western Jamaica.
The scale of destruction left behind by Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica “cannot be captured by the English word ‘disaster’,” said Pastor Glen Samuels, president of the West Jamaica Conference, as he surveyed the wreckage across the island’s western parishes five days after the monster storm struck.
“I’ve been through Gilbert,” he said, referring to the 1988 hurricane etched in Jamaicans’ memory for its widespread destruction, “but Gilbert was chicken feed compared to this.”
The Category 5 Hurricane Melissa flattened homes, decimated infrastructure, and cut off entire communities from power and communication. Among the devastation, church officials have confirmed the deaths of five Seventh-day Adventist members in the island’s western region.