Desperation in Black River, Jamaica, after Hurricane Melissa

People walk on muddy roads, clearing debris in search of food. Others dash into damaged stores in hopes of finding bottled water or other supplies.

Days after Hurricane Melissa left this Jamaican port city ground zero for the Caribbean’s devastation, Black River residents are still searching for loved ones as the death toll mounts, fighting to survive.

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

Here, high winds and storm surges destroyed nearly everything, rendering roads unusable and leaving a trail of destruction that left them increasingly helpless and isolated without electricity or running water.

Capsized boats lie on the curb. Brick buildings are divided in two. Giant metal sheets are bending between tree branches. Vehicles lie in crumbled pieces.

Residents who spoke to the BBC said they had seen no aid trucks in the area so far and said they had been forced to eat whatever food they could find in debris on the side of the roads in the coastal town about 150 km (93 miles) west of Kingston.

Others entered worn-out supermarkets, grabbing what they could. Some climbed to the top of a partially destroyed marketplace and threw food and bottles below, where people gathered with open arms.

“We have to use what we see here on the street and also in the supermarket,” explained Demar Walker, sitting in a shaded area below the store to avoid the heat and 80% humidity.

He said he and others had to climb to the market because the roof collapsed and took what they could. Water and goods were also distributed to citizens in need.

“We weren’t selfish, we had to throw food to others,” he said.

Others recently told the BBC that a local pharmacy in Black River was looted and described anarchy as people walked in and out with armfuls of drugs and alcohol.

“I saw items being taken out covered in mud,” Aldwayne Tomlinson told the BBC. “At first I thought the place was still open, but then I actually took a second look.

“I heard a lady say, ‘I need to go buy some alcohol.’ Then I knew they had also looted the pharmacy,” he said.

A woman standing on a pile of rubble just down the road describes the situation there as “chaos, chaos. Complete. No food. No water.”

Chegun Braham continues: “We don’t have access to money. We need help. No help has arrived.”

One couple told the BBC they owned multiple shops in the area and many were looted. They are currently on guard duty outside one of their stores, hoping to prevent future thefts.

A short walk from the market, Jimmy Esson leaned against a massive metal beam that had fallen to the ground.

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

The main issue on most people’s minds here is survival. The other is the increasing death toll. At least 19 people have died in the country, officials in Jamaica said Thursday, a large increase from the five people counted the day before. Another 30 people died in neighboring Haiti due to the storm.

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

Like many people in the area, he said he still hasn’t heard from his family and doesn’t know if they survived the storm. Mr. Walker is stranded in Black River, sleeping in the house that still stands to receive him, while his eight-year-old son is in the next neighborhood over, Westmoreland.

Westmoreland shares Jamaica’s west coast with the Black River in the parish of St Elizabeth and was also severely damaged by Melissa.

“There’s no way to go to my parents and find out if they’re okay,” she said as her eyes began to swell. In addition to unused roads making travel difficult, the hardest-hit areas have little to no cellphone service and no electricity or running water.

“The entire town of Black River is devastated,” said the town’s mayor, Richard Solomon.

He pointed out to local media the desperation of area residents who were looting and said – although he did not condone it – he understood why it was happening.

“It’s a delicate balance,” Mayor Solomon said of the response. “People are taking the opportunity to pick up things they can from the ground (from damaged stores). But there are others that are a little more powerful and are trying to break into people’s properties to grab all kinds of supplies.”

Local officials estimate that 90 percent of the homes here were destroyed. Much of the town’s vital infrastructure was also destroyed, including the local hospital, police station and fire station.

“There are communities that appear to be divided and areas that appear to be flattened,” said Information Minister Dana Morris Dixon.

Relief supplies are beginning to arrive more quickly at the main airport in Jamaica’s capital, Kingston, but smaller regional airports, some near where humanitarian aid is most needed, remain only partially operational.

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

The town is about a two-hour drive from Kingston, but the main road was flooded, damaged and clogged with cars at several points.

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

“We were upstairs, the entire ground floor was flooded. The water was around 1.5 metres. When the water came, the seas came and flooded everything,” Mr Tharkurdeen said.

“There couldn’t be anyone downstairs. Believe me, there were waves this high,” he says, pointing over his shoulder.

People who reached him from nearby flooded buildings were in bad shape. “He had cuts on his hands and feet,” he says. “Kids, old people, everyone.”

Mr Tharkurdee also found a man “lifeless” and “without a pulse” when the floodwaters receded.

“I’m not a doctor, I’m a doctor, so I can’t say he’s dead,” he said. “All we could do was document it and cover up his body.”

On Friday afternoon, a squadron of military helicopters flew into Black River; many hoped these would bring much-needed supplies.

Armed officers carrying machine guns took to the streets and the crowd searching the looted pharmacy and grocery store quickly dispersed. The queue of vehicles blocking the only road in the area was cleared.

The noise and chaos of hundreds of people struggling to survive was replaced by relative silence.

“St Elizabeth, we want this to come back again,” said Shawn Morris about the future of the area and his hopes for help from it.

“This has nothing to do with money,” he said. “We need food and water.”