By air & sea: Reaching islands devastated by Hurricane Beryl
WCK’s Relief Team has mobilized across the Caribbean where Hurricane Beryl left a path of destruction. Beryl was the earliest Category 5 hurricane ever seen during hurricane season, and it hit islands in the southern Caribbean where such violent storms are uncommon. As the storm approached, WCK teams prepositioned in Miami to quickly reach impacted islands.
Over the past week, we have provided thousands of hot meals and sandwiches, hundreds of cases of water, and as much fresh fruit as we can find to the hardest hit communities in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, and Jamaica. Our teams have been traveling most efficiently by helicopter, but a few choppy, rolling boat rides have helped us get aid to islands too.
We are working shoulder to shoulder with community leaders who have already begun distributing aid and helping their neighbors, and WCK is offering our support to help them grow their capabilities. Despite the devastation, there are still smiles on many faces as people count themselves lucky to still be able to help one another.
Petite Martinique, Grenada
Our teams on Grenada loaded food and water into every space available on the helicopter to deliver aid across the islands. When we arrived on Petite Martinique, one of the islands that bore the brunt of the storm, community members rallied to help us unload as swiftly as possible. It was the first aid they had received since Beryl hit, leaving many people without food and clean water.
Loading and unloading aid from the helicopter.
The island’s port has become a rallying point for community members, with every kind of boat imaginable being converted to provide aid—from providing places to sleep to transporting generators to where they’re desperately needed. In spite of a harrowing few days, people on this island have been organizing and working together to offer help. We delivered sandwiches, fruit, and water to these boats, and are working on longer-term solutions to get them regular supplies.
Delivering fruit, water, and sandwiches to boats in Petite Martinique’s port.
Another resident of the island, Gary, has been cooking in a small, makeshift kitchen with whatever supplies are left on the island, making enough food for about 150 neighbors. WCK’s Angad met with Gary to see how WCK can support his efforts.
Angad (right) speaking with Gary (left).
Saint Vincent, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Our team in Saint Vincent worked with local restaurant French Verandah to prepare sandwiches and procure fruit to be delivered to Union Island. We are working with trusted partners who supported our response on the island after the La Soufrière volcano displaced 20,000 people in early 2021.
Union Island, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Union Island was one of the hardest hit locations, with an estimated 90 percent of its infrastructure destroyed or damaged by Hurricane Beryl. There are few buildings on the island that remain standing, a stark testament to how seldom they are faced with this kind of storm. Our teams arrived by helicopter, flying to different parts of the island with food and water deliveries to ensure we reached as many people as possible.
Born and raised in Union Island, Martlyn had never seen a hurricane hit the island like this. “I lost everything,” she said, “I had to leave the baby bag with documents to save my life. It’s all gone.” Martlyn and her seven children are evacuating to mainland Saint Vincent to start a new life since their home was destroyed by the hurricane. “We just have to hope and pray.”
Martlyn holds her new baby.
Mayreau Island, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Our teams are making sure to assess the needs of every island, no matter how small. Mayreau Island, to the northeast of Union Island, is less than one square mile in size with a population of about 350 people. No one who lives there was able to evacuate ahead of the storm, they didn’t have the time or enough warning to do so.
WCK dropped off food and connected with local resident, Isaac, who is a police officer on the island. He is supporting coordination of food to the island’s community, and we are making plans to come back daily to deliver both food and water for the residents.
John, another resident of Mayreau, helps unload water.
Jamaica
A group of WCK team members remained in Miami after the storm passed Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada. From there, they began to prepare for Beryl’s landfall along Jamaica’s south coast. Current reports are that the concentration of damage is in the southeast parishes of Saint Elizabeth, Manchester, and Clarendon. We provided meals hours after the storm hit thanks to the support and local guidance of WCK Chef Corps member Michelle Rousseau, as well as local restaurant partners.
Mark Chong’s Catering in Kingston is sending out the first hot meals from WCK in Jamaica—baked chicken and stewed pork over yellow rice served with greens. The 200 meals are destined for a community center in Mandeville; an island area that was particularly hard hit by the back wall of the hurricane.
Next steps
Over the coming days, our teams will work on streamlining our deliveries to island communities, getting a firm idea of how much aid each location needs, and setting up partnerships with local restaurants and producers to scale up our efforts. You can sign up to our newsletter to receive more information and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for real time updates.
Help us continue supporting families impacted by Hurricane Beryl.
