BLACK RIVER, St Elizabeth — Days after Hurricane Beryl left them damaged and hurting, residents of southern St Elizabeth have started rebuilding, and they are doing so one building at a time despite the challenges.

For the past week, day after day, the pounding of nails through zinc has been continuous.

Junior McKenzie, a vendor at the Black River bus park, told the Jamaica Observer on Wednesday that people are trying to get back on their feet with the help of their family members, neighbours, and friends.

“This is nothing about nuh MP [Member of Parliament] or councillor. This is just my family come together and we a do this. Everybody got a touch in this hurricane, so we can’t really lean on the MP, because people get it worse than we. We have to try and get back to business,” said McKenzie.

“We would love some help to get back some of our goods. We get back electricity, so fridge can run. They made sure that the street in Waterloo got back back electricity.

He said the devastation caused by the storm left a major blow on the economy in southern St Elizabeth.

“The first storm Ivan took down my shop clean. This one came and gone with the roof. This is our livelihood, so we have to come together as family, gather our savings, and get the place up and running. Looters come and gone with everything inside, liquor [and] cigarettes. I lost over $300,000 due to the storm,” he said.

Beside McKenzie’s shop other small business owners and vendors were helping workmen place zinc on their shops.

Runece Wright, a resident of Parottee, a seaside village near Black River, attributed community spirit to the rebuilding effort there.

“We haffi lift up all mi granny out of the house so that breeze nuh blow her away. People in the community came together who were willing to help and nail it [roof] up. People actually went around the community and fixed roofs, because there was a lot of damage. People got together and nailed them up,” said Wright.

“The hurricane was hectic, it came with a lot of damage. My shop blew down. The house roofs that weren’t leaking during the storm were blown off. Everything mash up, from fowl coop to pig pen” she added.

Unlike Black River, Parottee and most of St Elizabeth remain without power, resulting in a setback for many. Wright said fishing has come to a halt.

“We are not managing because this is our only source of living. Every pot mash up at sea, and even if we go fishing right now, we don’t have the electricity to store the fish,” she said.

Wright claimed her shop was also looted after the storm.

“People see things and take them up. When disasters happen, people see juice and other things and just take them up,” she said.

However, Wright wore a smile on Wednesday as corporate companies distributed relief supplies, including food, water, and tarpaulins to residents.

“I am very grateful, because I don’t have much grocery at home, because we had to spend the money that we had. Everything [money] done now and we don’t have anything to sell right now. I am very grateful for this package,” she said.

The companies included Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) and the two main telecommunication providers, Digicel and Flow.

Advira Bennett, another resident of Parottee, was grateful for the relief supplies as she recounted the passage of Beryl.

“It was so terrible. I was so frightened. If I didn’t get rescued, I would get mash up. My furniture got ruined. I had to move to my son’s house with his family,” she said, while claiming that Hurricane Beryl was worse than Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

“Beryl was a more powerful one without rain. The wind was powerful. It nearly took me away too with the breeze. I haven’t started to rebuild as yet. I need some zinc and Solitex,” she said.

Pia Baker, senior vice-president for customer experience and commercial at JPS, said the company partnered with Flow and Digicel to take relief supplies to the affected communities.

“As utility providers we understand and we appreciate that oftentimes we are the first ones to come into the community. About 88 per cent of our 692,000 customers have already been restored, but we do appreciate and know that [while] we were able to restore power to Black River recently, most of St Elizabeth is without power,” she said.

“Digicel and Flow are here, because it has to be a very tight partnership. We have to power up first for them to be able to provide connectivity to the customers. Additionally, we do understand that it is not just about power. There is a lot of social relief that we have to come in,” she added.

Chief executive officer at Digicel Foundation Charmaine Daniels said the organisation was willing to assist in the recovery efforts.

“We are all about restoration, getting up light and phones, but most importantly looking and talking to our customers on the ground who have been suffering in the aftermath of Beryl. We know that a lot of people lost their roofs, unlike Kingston, so we have come down just to lend a hand… to build back communities,” she said.

With telecommunication service still a challenge in St Elizabeth, CEO at Digicel Jamaica, Stephen Murad, said efforts are being made to restore connectivity in the parish.

“We have almost 900 sites all over Jamaica. St Elizabeth itself has about 54 sites. The critical part is for us to get as many of them powered up where we can’t. We refuel those sites. We have had our team here on the ground for several days,” said Murad.

Runece Wright, a resident of Parottee pointing to where her shop once stood.

Residents of Parottee in south St Elizabeth walking with their care packages.

A man working to replace a roof in the Black River bus park in St Elizabeth on Wednesday.

Men repair the roof of a shop in the Black River bus park in St Elizabeth on Wednesday. (Photo: Karl Mclarty)

Pia Baker (centre), senior vice president for customer experience and commercial at JPS is joined by CEO at Digicel Jamaica, Stephen Murad and Chief executive officer at Digicel Foundation Charmaine Daniels in spearheading relief efforts in southern St Elizabeth on Wednesday. (Photos: Karl Mclarty)

CEO at Digicel Jamaica, Stephen Murad (left) handing over a care package to Runece Wright, a resident of Parottee (right) on Wednesday.