Hurricane Beryl, the earliest Category 5 storm on record to traverse the region, wreaked havoc in pockets of the Caribbean last week, causing devastation to the islands of the Grenadines and parts of the south coast of Jamaica, Bevan Springer reports in this week’s MPE Caribbean Report Newsletter
According to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), the focus is now on assisting Grenada and its Grenadines of Carriacou and Petite Martinique, as well as the Grenadine islands of Bequia, Union Island, Canouan, and Mayreau in St. Vincent.
CDEMA participating states, along with regional and international partners, continue to support the ongoing response efforts being coordinated through the Regional Response Mechanism (RRM).
Donations to support relief efforts can be made via:
- Government of Grenada Natural Disaster Fund: pay.gov.gd
- Vincent and the Grenadines Disaster Relief Fund: svghurricanerelief.gov.vc/hurricane
- CHTA Education Foundation: www.chtaef.com
Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said: “This hurricane is a direct result of the climate crisis that Grenada, the Caribbean, and other Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are on the front line of. We are no longer prepared to accept that it is ok for us to constantly suffer significant loss and damage arising from climatic events and be expected to borrow, to rebuild year after year while the countries that are responsible for creating the situation and exacerbating the situation sit idly by with platitudes and tokenism. Grenada’s economy, Grenada’s environment both physically built and natural have taken an enormous hit from this hurricane. It has put the people of Carriacou and Petite Martinique light years behind and they are required to pull themselves up by the bootstrap on their own. This is not right, it is not fair, it is not just. We demand and deserve climate justice.”
See this week’s MPE Caribbean Report Newsletter at https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzQVxbdmrPxxXFHDPWFXMVFzTjGb
