Tourism-Reliant Caribbean Nations Eye Hurricane Beryl Recovery

by Brian Major
Last updated: 1:25 PM ET, Mon July 8, 2024

Caribbean countries impacted last week by Hurricane Beryl
continue to recover as the tourism-reliant nations grapple with electricity
outages, flattened buildings and roads blocked by debris.

Communities in Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines suffered severe damage from the Category 4 storm. Meanwhile, parts of Barbados and the Cayman Islands reported minor impacts from Beryl.

Damage in Barbados was limited to the southwest shores, and “the majority of hotels and visitor accommodations are not reporting any significant damage,” according to a Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. statement.

Cayman Island Department of Tourism officials reported “no injuries to residents or visitors” on its three islands, and “clean-up operations are also currently underway.”

United Nations officials said Hurricane Beryl is the
strongest hurricane in recorded history to form in June in the Atlantic Ocean. The
Category 4 storm briefly reached Category 5 status with winds up to 150 mph.

The storm left a trail of destruction across several Caribbean communities. Ralph Gonsalves, prime minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, said affected areas suffered “utter devastation,” with sister islands Canonuan, Union Island, and Mayreau considered the most heavily impacted.

Map of Hurricane Beryl’s projected path through the Caribbean. (Photo Credit: Rokas / Adobe Stock)

Damage was less significant on the main island of Saint
Vincent, where Sandals Resorts International recently opened a resort. Saint Vincent is still recovering from the
impact of a 2021 volcanic eruption that displaced more than 20,000 people and
caused more than $200 million worth of damage.

Grenada Impact

Grenada’s sister island of Carriacou was also badly hit,
with 98 percent of buildings on the island damaged or destroyed, according to
media reports.

As of July 4, electrical power and communications systems were down across the island, and “literally 100 percent” of Carriacou’s residents were affected by the hurricane, according to Simon Springett, a United Nations resident coordinator in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.

Springett said organizations responding to the crisis have faced logistical and access challenges, including roads blocked by debris. Carriacou relies heavily on tourism as its small-town nature attracts island-hopping travelers from the larger island of Grenada.

As with Saint Vincent, the impact on Grenada’s main island was far less significant.

Union Island, 3 July.

Hurricane Beryl passed between Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada, with wind of over 220 km/h.

Massive destruction reported; 1,000+ evacuated in in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 2,500 in Grenada.
https://t.co/JwSfmairsE

© @UNmigrationpic.twitter.com/h16fdvG2ux

— EU Civil Protection & Humanitarian Aid (@eu_echo) July 5, 2024

“Fortunately, the south of Grenada, in particular the
capital St. George’s, was spared the wrath of hurricane Beryl and our hotel
sector is open for business,” said Patricia Maher, a former CEO of the Grenada Tourism
Authority, in a LinkedIn post.

Additionally, said Maher, Carriacou’s digital communications network was operating by Wednesday evening despite being directly hit by hurricane Beryl on Monday.

Jamaica Eyes Recovery

Dennis Zulu, the UN’s resident coordinator for Jamaica and Bahamas, said Beryl spared Jamaica’s main resort areas but heavily damaged communities in the southern parishes of Clarendon, Manchester and Saint Elizabeth.

Jamaica’s government has initiated a response plan
supported by the UN and other partners, including shelters for those who lost their
homes, said Zulu.

Even as conditions improve, “What I know is that there
remains a lot of debris along our roadways,” said Janet Silvera, a Montego-Bay-based
journalist for the Jamaica Gleaner, in a Facebook post.

Meanwhile, a July 4 Instagram footage from the CaribbBizNetwork
showed downed trees and power lines, damaged buildings and widely scattered
debris in the Treasure Beach area.

Conversely, most resorts in Jamaica have returned to operations
as most primary tourist areas avoided a direct hit from the hurricane.

“While there have been some reports of fallen trees,
debris, flooding and power outages, we are grateful that there has been no
wide-scale impact to our general tourism infrastructure,” said Edmund Bartlett,
Jamaica’s tourism minister.

A “limited number” of tourists required relocation due to
blocked roadways or precautionary measures, Bartlett said.

In a July 4 statement, Sandals Resorts International officials
said the company’s Jamaican properties remain open. “Guests are already
enjoying many of the resort amenities as we work to get back to normal.”

“As expected with a storm of this magnitude, some areas in
Jamaica are without power or WiFi access today,” the statement reads. “However
our resorts are equipped with backup power generators to provide guests as much
comfort as possible.”

Some advisors commenting on private online groups said several
Jamaican resorts continue to suffer the impact of power outages and staff
shortages as residents grapple with the hurricane’s aftermath.

Jamaica’s minister of energy said sections of Portland,
which have been without electricity and water since Wednesday, should see
services restored by Monday, according to a Jamaica Observer report.

Relief Underway

A wide variety of public and private organizations are spearheading efforts to provide aid to communities impacted by Beryl. Officials said the UN is working in coordination with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) to ensure “a coherent regional response.”

UN officials said the Secretary-General is also releasing $4 million from the organization’s emergency response fund to provide aid to Grenada, Jamaica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Petite Martinique and Carriacou bore the brunt of devastation as Hurricane Beryl hit Grenada. WCK’s team in the region loaded a helicopter with sandwiches and water that we flew to families on Petite Martinique.#ChefsForTheCaribbeanpic.twitter.com/EnrJ8UPeYX

— World Central Kitchen (@WCKitchen) July 5, 2024

Additionally, the Jamaica Observer reported that Food For the Poor (FFP) sent 27 containers of aid to Jamaica, with more to be shipped this week. Several U.S.-based Jamaican diaspora groups are also organizing aid efforts in Florida, Maryland and New York.

In Grenada, a Guardian newspaper report said Dickon Mitchell, the country’s prime minister, hopes to activate his country’s catastrophic risk insurance policy to tackle the huge cost of recovery. Mitchell said clean-up alone will take tens of millions of dollars.

The Grenadines’ Palm Island resort has launched a relief effort, with a GoFundMe page created to raise funds. In a statement, resort officials said 100 percent of donations would directly assist the company’s team and their families on the heavily impacted Union Island.

“Homes, medical clinics, and even the airport must be
rebuilt,” said James Lane, the property’s managing director. 

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Publish date : 2024-07-08 13:25:00

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