Hurricane Melissa ravages Key Largo months after Beryl

LIVERN BARRETT

STAR Writer

Fifteen months after Hurricane Beryl left Key Largo Beach Bar in shambles, the operators of the popular St Ann's Bay entertainment spot are once again picking up the pieces - this time after Hurricane Melissa unleashed fresh destruction.

When Fallon Atkinson, who manages the beachfront property, arrived on Wednesday morning, a day after Melissa's passage, she was met with a devastating scene - the venue lay in ruins once again.

Atkinson, who also manages an adjacent restaurant and tile store, said the roofs of all three establishments were damaged, while floodwaters inundated equipment across the properties.

Despite the extensive damage, Atkinson chose to remain positive.

"I anticipated that there would be damage, but I thought it would be worse than this," she said at the popular beachfront venue.

"We had Beryl last year and it was a much bigger damage because all of that went off," she added, pointing to the roof of the main bar. "It was flat and we had to rebuild it."

Atkinson said she is unsure how soon the venue will rebound this time around.

Hurricane Melissa made landfall Tuesday in Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes in history.

Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie said on Wednesday morning that the various state agencies have begun the assessment of the damage across the island.

"It is not going to be an easy road Jamaica. We have seen the extent of the damage. It is going to take a lot of time," he said.