“This is the first time in my 64 years that I am homeless,” said Hubert Samuels emphatically, recalling the morning Hurricane Melissa tore through Black River last October. The powerful system, which intensified to a Category 5 hurricane at its peak, left parts of St Elizabeth devastated. Homes were flattened, roofs torn away and entire communities displaced. Samuels’ multigenerational household was among them. Their family home in Black River was destroyed, forcing him to find temporary shelter for his wife, daughter and granddaughter.