By LINCOLN DEPRADINE
A massive mobilization of items and money across Canada continues, as individuals and organizations respond to calls for assistance from the Caribbean, where Hurricane Beryl has left a trail of death and destruction.
Loss of lives was reported in Jamaica, Venezuela and St. Vincent & the Grenadines, as well as on the tri-island state of Grenada, Carriacou & Petite Martinique.
While extensive damage was reported in some parts Grenada, where a man died after a tree fell on his house, it’s on Carriacou – where at least two fatalities also were blamed on Beryl – and on Petite Martinique, that the hurricane’s aftermath was described as “Armageddon-like” by Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell.
Beryl left about 98 per cent of properties on Carriacou and Petite Martinique damaged or destroyed, and wreaked “complete devastation and destruction of agriculture” on the two islands, said the prime minister, who is also minister responsible for disaster management.
“There’s really nothing that can prepare you to see this level of destruction. It is almost Armageddon-like,” said Mitchell. “Almost total damage and destruction of all buildings, whether they be public buildings, homes or other private facilities.”
Mitchell predicts that Grenada would require millions of dollars to clean up from the hurricane and to re-build.
“Clean up alone will run into tens of millions of dollars,” he said. “The Minister of Finance has already written to some of our multilateral partners to indicate that this catastrophic event has happened and to trigger our debt suspension clause with some of these agreements.”
The cabinet of ministers, which is chaired by the prime minister, also plans on establishing a task force “to do a detailed assessment of the loss and damage that Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique have suffered in the areas of agriculture, fishing, housing, public buildings, private buildings and public infrastructure and the environment”, added Mitchell.
“We need to make sure we record accurately the lost, the damage, and that we are able to qualify this, because it has significant implications for the economy of Grenada, for the government’s fiscal situation, and for some of our contractual obligations, liabilities, as well as benefits.”
Mitchell’s cabinet minister Tevin Andrew, who is the parliamentary representative for Carriacou and Petite Martinique, concurred that it was “total devastation”.
“Our hospital is affected; the roof is gone,” Andrews said. “Most of the clinics’ roofs are gone. Petite Martinique is in a mess.”
Beryl reportedly destroyed almost all homes on St. Vincent’s Grenadine islands of Bequia, Mayreau and Union.
“Hurricane Beryl has left in its wake immense destruction,” said Vincentian Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves.
In the words of the prime minister, “Union Island has been devastated”, and the roof of its local airport “is gone; it’s no more”.
Beryl made landfall as a Category 5 storm that packed wind speeds of more than 250 kilometres per hour. It’s the earliest Category 5 storm on record.
The hurricane is responsible for at least 10 deaths, including three each in both Venezuela and St. Vincent & the Grenadines; and one in Jamaica.
The response to the call for help, from Caribbean nationals living in the region, as well as in North America and Europe, has been swift and immediate.
Groups and individuals embarked on fundraising drives and set up drop-off sites for collecting items such as non-perishable food, medicine, bottled water, hygiene products, baby and adult diapers, baby formula, batteries and battery packs, tarpaulins, cots and sleeping blankets.
Beryl’s impact was felt by homeowners and boat owners, as well as farmers and the business owners in Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Grenada and Jamaica.
The hurricane swept along Jamaica’s southern coast last Wednesday as a Category 4 storm, bringing more than 12 hours of heavy rain.
An island-wide curfew was lifted early on Thursday, but hundreds of thousands of Jamaican homes remained without electrical power in the immediate wake of Beryl. JPS – the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited, which is the country’s sole distributor of energy – said 65 per cent, or about 400,000 of its customers, were without power last Thursday morning.
Floyd Green, MP for St. Elizabeth South Western, said Beryl delivered “a most devastating blow” to parts of Jamaica.
In his constituency, said Green, “significant numbers of roofs” were lost, “houses destroyed, trees uprooted, light poles downed” and “almost all roads are impassable”.
According to Jamaica’s ministry of health and wellness, the estimated cost for repairs to health facilities affected by Hurricane Beryl is JA$1.098 billion.
Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness, for his part, thanked “first responders, essential services, security forces and good Samaritans, who have assisted others in this time of crisis” created by Hurricane Beryl, which also impacted the Cayman Islands, Mexico and Texas in the U.S. after leaving Jamaica.
Apart from the community groups and island associations in Canada offering assistance to the Caribbean, help also has been forthcoming from other sectors.
Liberal MP for Don Valley East, Michael Coteau, who participated in a virtual meeting Tuesday of Grenadian Canadians, later reported that the Canadian government had “committed $1 million to help with clean-up efforts” in the Caribbean.
“From what I understand, this is part of a series of discussions for resources to Grenada and other countries,” said Coteau, whose father was born on Carriacou.
Among other promised donations to the Caribbean are $4 million from the United Nations from its emergency response fund to help Jamaica, Grenada and St. Vincent & the Grenadines.
Banking giant CIBC has announced that it will be making an initial donation of $100,000 through its CIBC operations in the Caribbean, to support hurricane relief efforts in the Caribbean islands impacted by Hurricane Beryl.
CIBC said additional funds will be donated towards restoration work in Grenada, Jamaica and St. Vincent & the Grenadines.
“The devastation caused by Hurricane Beryl has seen near complete destruction of some communities and thousands of people across the region are in urgent need of assistance,” said Mark St. Hill, chief executive officer of CIBC Caribbean.
Scotiabank is also donating a total of $150,000 to the Canadian Red Cross, United Way Jamaica and United Way Trinidad & Tobago to support with the critical relief and recovery efforts for affected communities across the Caribbean.
“Our hearts go out to all the people that have been affected by Hurricane Beryl,” said Scott Thomson, President and Chief Executive Officer for Scotiabank. “Scotiabank has a longstanding presence across the Caribbean, and we are saddened to see the impact this hurricane has had on our employees, clients and communities in the region.
“As the work begins to recover and rebuild from the damage this extreme weather event has caused, we will continue to work with the Canadian Red Cross and United Way to support their relief efforts.”
Canada-based GlobalMedic has also been working to get hundreds of family emergency kits to the Caribbean, and the Red Cross has launched a “Hurricane Beryl Appeal”, saying it’s working to help, “as quickly as possible”, those impacted by the hurricane.
“Money raised will enable the Red Cross to provide immediate relief, support recovery efforts, and resilience and preparedness activities for future events,” the organization said.
“As a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement – which is made up of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Committee of the Red Cross and 191 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies – the Canadian Red Cross is dedicated to helping people and communities in Canada and around the world in times of need and supporting them in strengthening their resilience.”
Canadians wishing to donate to the “Hurricane Beryl Appeal” can do so online at redcross.ca or by calling 1-800-418-1111.
