• Mon. Nov 11th, 2024

    Some Caribbean islands see almost ‘total destruction’ after Hurricane Beryl

    A more complete picture emerged Wednesday of the extensive damage wrought by Hurricane Beryl’s trek across the Windward Islands, revealing destruction and at least seven deaths.

    At least three islands report more than 90% of the homes and buildings either destroyed or severely damaged, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency reported Wednesday. All three are within the chain of Grenadine Islands, where Beryl roared into the Caribbean on the southern end of the Windwards, between St. Vincent and Grenada.

    With 19 participating states across the Caribbean, the agency was helping coordinate disaster response on Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines even as it continued to track Beryl’s movements across Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Belize. The eye of Beryl, still a Category 4 storm, raked Jamaica’s coast Wednesday afternoon and was expected to pass near the Cayman Islands Thursday morning, before making landfall in the Yucatan on Friday morning.

    The damage estimates for the Windwards – where Beryl made landfall over Carriacou – are only “a very preliminary look,” said Elizabeth Riley, the disaster management agency’s executive director. Beryl struck the islands with sustained winds of 150 mph and higher gusts on Monday, and the National Hurricane Center had warned that winds could be up to 30% higher on the tops of hills and mountains.

    The impacts to the Grenadine Islands are “quite significant,” Riley said, leaving residents exposed and vulnerable. Even as recovery efforts began, a tropical wave brought rain and gusty winds Wednesday to the suffering residents.

    Scattered debris and houses with missing roofs are seen in a drone photograph after Hurricane Beryl passed the island of Petite Martinique, Grenada on July 2, 2024.
    Scattered debris and houses with missing roofs are seen in a drone photograph after Hurricane Beryl passed the island of Petite Martinique, Grenada on July 2, 2024.

    Grenada prime minister discusses damage on Carriacou

    In a briefing late Tuesday after spending more than two hours in a helicopter provided by the government of St. Lucia, Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell described “total destruction” on the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique.

    “There’s really nothing that can prepare you to see this level of destruction,” Mitchell said. “It is almost Armageddon-like, almost total damage and destruction of all buildings. Complete devastation and destruction of agriculture. Complete and total destruction of the natural environment.”

    Hurricane Beryl, a dangerous Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 150 mph, makes an initial landfall on Carriacou, one of the Grenadine Islands, just after 11 a.m. on July 1, 2024.
    Hurricane Beryl, a dangerous Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 150 mph, makes an initial landfall on Carriacou, one of the Grenadine Islands, just after 11 a.m. on July 1, 2024.

    “There is literally no vegetation left anywhere on the island of Carriacou; the mangroves are totally destroyed, the boats and the marinas significantly damaged,” he said. “There is almost complete destruction of the electrical grid system in Carriacou. The entire communication system is completely destroyed.”

    However, Mitchell added, he’d been heartened by the volunteers “showing true Grenadian spirit” by arriving from other less damaged areas in boats and fishing vessels to begin delivering relief supplies to those affected.

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