Jamaica Braces for Hurricane Beryl Impact

Jamaica endured a fierce onslaught of water, damaging winds, and flooding rains on Wednesday as Hurricane Beryl, a Category 4 storm, passed just south of the coast. The island suffered the loss of at least one life due to the storm, which came on the heels of devastating impacts in the eastern Caribbean where seven other fatalities were reported.

The aftermath of Hurricane Beryl left a trail of destruction on the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique in Grenada, with virtually every building reduced to ruins. Hospitals and marinas were destroyed, rooftops ripped off, and trees snapped apart like matchsticks on the saturated ground, prompting Grenada’s Prime Minister, Dickon Mitchell, to declare the need for a complete rebuild.

As the storm approached, Jamaica took precautionary measures by closing its airports and issuing evacuation orders for low-lying and flood-prone areas. This marked the strongest hurricane to near the island in over a decade, with the last major hurricane passing within 70 miles of Jamaica occurring in 2007.

The first confirmed fatality in Jamaica as a result of Hurricane Beryl was reported in the western parish of Hanover, where a woman tragically lost her life when a tree fell on her house. Additionally, a rescue mission was underway to locate a 20-year-old man who was swept away in a gully in Kingston while trying to retrieve a ball during the storm.