Residents look at a damaged drain in Shooters Hill, Jamaica, on July 4, 2024, after Hurricane Beryl struck Jamaica’s southern coast in the early hours of July 4 before moving towards Mexico and the Cayman Islands, bringing strong winds and a storm surge. Beryl weakened to a Category 3 storm overnight, maintaining winds of 125 mph (200 kph), but is forecast to remain “at or near major hurricane strength” as it passes the Cayman Islands, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC). (Photo by Ricardo Makin/AFP)
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The Red Cross described a devastating situation on Friday after Hurricane Beryl raged from the Caribbean towards Mexico, causing major damage in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and leaving two islands of Grenada “destroyed”.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said teams from around the world had seen the life-threatening effects of beryl rain.
The storm left a trail of destruction along the Caribbean Sea and Venezuelan coast, killing at least seven people, and approached Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Friday.
This is the first hurricane since National Hurricane Center (NHC) records began reaching Category 4 levels in June, and also the earliest hurricane to reach its highest Category 5 level in July.
“The extent of the damage in the aftermath of the hurricane is evident and heartbreaking,” Leah Pierre, disaster manager for the Caribbean for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), told reporters in Geneva via video link from Trinidad and Tobago.
Beryl struck Jamaica’s southern coast on Wednesday, becoming the strongest hurricane to hit the country since Hurricane Dean in 2007, she noted.
Meanwhile, in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, “the passage of Hurricane Beryl was felt throughout the country,” she said.
“It is estimated that approximately 90 percent of the Grenadines has been affected.”
And in Grenada, Beryl made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane and “totally devastated the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique,” she said.
“The state of emergency remains in place on these islands, the official number of people in evacuation centres is still unknown and communication is severely limited.”
“The true extent of the damage and devastation left in the hurricane’s wake will become clear in the coming hours and days,” she said.
But it was already clear that the need was huge.
In St. Vincent, people arriving on the mainland from Union Island “had nothing but the clothes on their backs,” she said, and even government shelters were damaged.
“People have lost everything” in Carriacou, she said, stressing the need for a long-term response, especially to ensure people are not left stranded outside as hurricane season continues.
Pierre stressed that climate change likely plays a key role in the rapid intensification of storms like Beryl, because warmer oceans provide more energy for storms to feed on.
“We cannot ignore the new reality of the climate crisis facing the Caribbean,” she said.
