Black River hurricane command shift - Resilient STETHS named new emergency operations centre for St Elizabeth capital

WESTERN BUREAU:

With Hurricane Melissa compromising Black River’s capacity to host the parish’s Emergency Operations Command Centre (EOCC), St Elizabeth Technical High School in Santa Cruz has been designated the new hub of operations as the parish moves deeper into the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season.

Before Hurricane Melissa, the parish’s EOCC was housed at the Black River Fire Station. However, the facility took a battering from the hurricane and could not meet its emergency obligations to residents.

“We are in a position that, if we are hit with a hurricane tomorrow, we have our new command centre that we would have already identified. All the necessary things are in place,” Black River Mayor Richard Solomon told The Gleaner on Thursday.

“We have identified St Elizabeth Technical High School as our new command centre.”

The EOCC serves as the parish’s nerve centre during disasters, coordinating the activities of emergency responders, government agencies and relief organisations, while directing response and recovery efforts and disseminating critical information to the public.

Having identified St Elizabeth Technical High School as the new hub of disaster operations, Solomon said he was confident that the relocation had strengthened the parish’s disaster preparedness, noting that “all the necessary things are in place”.

The move to St Elizabeth Technical High School comes just over nine months after Melissa, a Category 5 hurricane, slammed into Jamaica’s south coast with sustained winds of 185 mph (295 km/h). It left widespread devastation across western Jamaica, especially in St Elizabeth, washing away roads and bridges and causing extensive damage to infrastructure.

Crippled infrastructure

Some of the key infrastructure that was crippled included the Black River Fire Station, government offices, schools, homes, farms and businesses. Dozens of communities were cut off by floodwaters and landslides.

As a result of the damage sustained, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management identified St Elizabeth as one of the four parishes with the highest concentration of structural damage.

Although St Elizabeth Technical High School also suffered significant damage during the hurricane, several buildings on the campus remain structurally sound, making it suitable to support emergency operations.

Among the hardest-hit areas on the school’s campus was a classroom block that once accommodated students preparing for Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examinations. The building was completely stripped of its roof, while its rear wall was torn away, exposing the extensive damage to the school’s farm and greenhouse.

The school also suffered severe roof damage to its Grade Seven and Grade Nine blocks, the principal’s and teachers’ cottages, and the dormitories used by the school’s track and field athletes. Some sections of the perimeter wall also collapsed, while the spectator stands for sporting activities were left in ruins.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com