Hurricane Beryl Aftermath: Hope Emerges In Carriacou As Recovery Efforts Face Challenges

One month after Hurricane Beryl roared through the Caribbean, leaves are starting to reappear on trees on Carriacou, in what feels like a sign of hope.

The island, one of three main islands that make up the nation of Grenada, was devastated by Hurricane Beryl on July 1. 

ReliefWeb said that a staggering 97 percent of homes and businesses and 100 percent of the power and telecommunications on Carriacou and Petite Martinique, a smaller island, were destroyed.

From the air, Carriacou still looks like a disaster zone nearly a month after the powerful storm.

Storm chaser Brandon Clement, who reported on Hurricane Beryl from Carriacou to its subsequent landfall in Texas, returned to the islands — via boat — on July 29 to see how the island’s recovery was progressing — and sent up his drone to record the scenes.

“The response to help was swift immediately after the storm,” said Clement. “But then, after the hurricane also hit Jamaica, Mexico, and Texas, people forgot about Grenada.”

Destruction is still visible everywhere. The drone revealed dozens of missing roofs, some without tarps to cover them. Boats remain crashed and entangled onshore.

Logistically, it’s hard to get help to the smaller island of Carriacou, Clement said. The airport on the island was destroyed, leaving only boats to bring recovery and rebuilding supplies.

On the smaller islands, things are more desperate. “Petit Martinique is in a whole other world of need. They are in really bad shape,” said Clement.

Although the roads have been cleared, piles of debris still line the streets, a local told Clement. While residents plan to rebuild, they have learned lessons from substandard construction practices and recognize the need to build back better.

“I need to get a wall, roof, like a bomb shelter now,” said a Petite Martinique resident telling Clement. “No galvanized [sheet metal] again… so [if] anything like this happens again, you feel like you’re more comfortable, more safe.”

The national power company says that all power has been restored on the main island, but other Caribbean islands are sending power workers to help the smaller islands of Grenada. Restoration of power on Carriacou may take another three to four months. Power workers have not yet reached Petite Martinique.

On July 20, the government announced each household would be eligible to receive two barrels of food, clothing and items imported into the island nation “free from duties, taxes, and fees.”

Hurricane Beryl also took a devastating toll on Carriacou businesses. Most of the fishing boats — 90 percent, ReliefWeb says — belonged to fishermen who had no insurance. On shore, farmers, already suffering from a severe drought this summer, lost what little they had left. One farmer told Clement they lost half their sheep in the storm; another said hungry stray dogs were attacking his goats for food.

A local businesswoman who just started her bar and restaurant last October said business was booming before Beryl flattened it.

“Everybody lost basically everything,” said the local businesswoman in her comment to Accuweather. “People have to start from scratch. We’re not rich people, you know, we’re poor people, but we still have our lives.”

Produced in association with AccuWeather