Desperation in Black River, Jamaica, after Hurricane Melissa

People walk along muddy roads searching for food among the debris. Others are jumping into affected stores in hopes of finding bottled water or other supplies.

As the death toll rises, Black River residents are still searching for their loved ones while also struggling to survive, days after Hurricane Melissa made this Jamaican coastal city ground zero for the devastation seen across the Caribbean.

Residents here say they have been living in chaos for the past three days since Melissa hit them as one of the strongest Category 5 storms ever recorded in the area.

The high winds and storms that blew from here have destroyed almost everything, leaving roads unusable and a trail of destruction that has left them increasingly desperate and isolated without electricity or running water.

Overturned boats lie on the side of the pier. The brick buildings are divided into two halves. Giant metal sheets twisted between tree branches. Compounds sit in crumbly pieces.

Residents who spoke to the BBC said they had not seen any aid trucks in the area yet, and described having to eat what food they could find among the rubble on the roads in the coastal town, about 150 kilometers west of Kingston.

Others made their way inside damaged supermarkets, taking what they could for themselves. Some, who climbed to the top of a partially destroyed market, threw food and water bottles down, where people gathered with their arms outstretched.

“We have to use everything we see here, on the street and in the supermarket as well,” explained Demar Walker, sitting in a shaded area down the street near the store, escaping the heat and 80% humidity.

He said that he and others were forced to go up to the market because its roof collapsed and they took what they could. They dropped off water and items for others in need as well.

“We were not selfish, we had to throw food to other people,” he said.

Nearby, others told the BBC that a local pharmacy had been ransacked in Black River, describing chaos as people ran in and out carrying large quantities of drugs and alcohol.

“I saw things covered in mud being recovered,” Aldwin Tomlinson told the BBC. “At first, I thought the place was still open, but then I really took a second look.

“I heard a lady say, ‘I need to go get some alcohol.’ That’s when I knew they were looting the pharmacy, too.”

Just down the road, a woman standing on top of a pile of rubble describes the situation there as “chaos, complete chaos. No food, no water.”

“We have no access to money. We need help. We have not received any help,” continues Chegun Braham.

A couple told the BBC that they own several shops in the area, and said many of them had been looted. They are now standing guard outside one of their stores in hopes of preventing future thefts.

A short distance from the market, Jimmy Eason leaned against a huge metal beam that had fallen to the ground.

“I lost everything, all my stuff,” he said. “We need food. We don’t have food.”

Survival is the primary concern on the minds of most people here. The other is the high death toll. Officials in Jamaica said on Thursday that at least 19 people had died in the country, a significant jump from the five counted the previous day. Another 30 died in neighboring Haiti due to the storm.

“My community, we have bodies out there,” Walker said.

He said that, like many others in the area, he has not yet heard from his family and does not know if they made it out of the storm alive. Mr Walker is stuck in Black River, sleeping in whatever house is still standing and accepting, while his 8-year-old son is in Westmoreland, the next parish, he says.

Westmoreland shares the west coast of Jamaica, along with the Black River in St. Elizabeth Parish, and was also badly damaged by Melissa.

“There’s no way to reach my family to know if they’re okay,” he said as his eyes began to swell. Besides unusable roads, making travel difficult, there is little cell phone service and no electricity or running water in many hard-hit areas.

The Black River has been described as ground zero for Hurricane Melissa, the Category 5 killer that was the strongest to hit Jamaica in the country’s history.

“The entire city of Black River has been devastated,” Mayor Richard Solomon said.

He noted to local media the desperation of residents who are looting, and said – while he does not condone it – that he understands why this happens.

“It’s a delicate balance,” Mayor Solomon said of the response. “People are taking the opportunity to pick up what they can from the ground (from affected stores). However, there are others who are acting more aggressively, trying to access people’s properties to get all kinds of supplies.”

Local officials estimate that 90% of the homes here have been destroyed. Much of the city’s vital infrastructure was also destroyed, including the local hospital, police station and fire station.

“There are entire communities that appear to be under siege and areas that appear to have been leveled,” Information Minister Dana Morris Dixon said.

Aid supplies are beginning to arrive more quickly at the main airport in the Jamaican capital, Kingston, but smaller regional airports, some of which are located near where humanitarian aid is needed most, remain only partially operational.

Relief agencies and the military are bringing in much-needed supplies from Kingston by road, but many roads remain impassable in places, including places like Black River.

The town is about a two-hour drive from Kingston, but its main road has been – at various points – flooded, damaged and blocked by cars.

Michael Tharkorden, a local paramedic, was at the town’s fire station when the storm hit.

“We were upstairs, and the entire basement was flooded. It was four to five feet of water. When the water came, it was seas, flooded everywhere,” Tharkordin said.

“No one could be downstairs. Trust me, there were waves almost that high,” he says, pointing over his shoulder.

People who reached it from nearby flooded buildings arrived in poor condition. “They had wounds on their hands and feet,” he says. “Children, elders, everyone.”

Mr Tharkordi also found a man “catatonic” and “without a pulse” once the floodwaters receded.

He said: “I am not a doctor, I am a paramedic, so I cannot announce his death.” “All we could do was document it and cover his body.”

By mid-afternoon Friday, a fleet of military helicopters flew into the Black River, many hoping for much-needed supplies.

Armed officials carrying machine guns took to the streets, and crowds searching the looted pharmacy and grocery store quickly evacuated. A line of cars that had crowded the only road in the area was cleared.

Relative calm replaced the noise and chaos of hundreds of people fighting for survival.

“St. Elizabeth, we want it back,” Sean Morris said of the future of the area and his hopes for aid here.

“It’s not about the money,” he said. “We need food and water.”