Manchester farmer replants field after Melissa’s blow

Less than two weeks after Hurricane Melissa tore through Manchester, small farmer Leroy Blake was back on his two-acre plot in Whitby district, machete in hand, cutting through fallen trees and debris. The storm had ravaged his round-leaf yam crop, flattening months of work in a single night of dangerous winds.

The overall damage from Hurricane Melissa is staggering -- preliminarily estimated at between US$6 billion and US$7 billion. Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has warned that "agricultural output will decline in the short term as farmers replant and livestock operations recover".

For Blake, who also raises cows and goats, recovery means action -- not waiting.

"Dem [other farmers] siddung a wait on help, but mi can't do that. Mi lose bout 1,500 head a yam," he said, surveying the ruin. He has already begun preparing the land to replant 300 hills of yam, doing his part to protect the nation's food security.

Before the storm, Blake earned roughly $15,000 weekly from yam sales. Now, that income is gone -- and the blow is even heavier because Hurricane Melissa ripped off almost half the roof of his home when it made landfall on October 28.

According to Audrey Royal, parish manager for the Ministry of Labour and Social Security in Manchester, Whitby was among the hardest-hit communities.

"Whitby is one of the hardest hit areas in Manchester. It is a farming area, so apart from the house damage, a lot of persons have lost their income," she noted.