Grenada minister tells UN: hurricane-devastated Islands need anything for `a human being to survive’

UNITED NATIONS — The minister for the two islands of Grenada that were first hit by Hurricane Beryl with catastrophic winds had a simple message for UN and other humanitarian officials who asked what was needed: “Anything that would enable a human being to survive.”

Tevin Andrews, who was on the devastated island of Carriacou on Friday where Beryl became the first Category 4 storm to make landfall in the Atlantic, also said when asked if there was flat space for humanitarian workers to pitch tents: “The whole island is flat.”

Simon Springett, the UN’s top humanitarian official for the eastern Caribbean and Barbados, who listened to Andrews’ phone call and relayed his comments to UN correspondents, said he did not want to sound overly dramatic, “but the islands were really hit dramatically, catastrophically, catastrophically.”

He said heavy rain and winds from Beryl destroyed desalination plants, cell towers and fibre optic cables in Carriacou on Monday night, made roads impassable and likely destroyed 95% of homes, local businesses and income-generating activities.

Carriacou (population 9,000) and nearby Petit Martinique (population 2,000) in the southeastern Caribbean were hit hardest. The mainland of Grenada in the north also suffered damage, albeit to a lesser extent. About 10,000 people are affected, Springett said.

In Carriacou, he said, communications were only restored on Thursday and the sea was so rough after Beryl that ships could not land and neither could planes because air traffic control towers were “out of order”.

In neighboring St. Vincent and the Grenadines, three islands with a total population of about 15,500 were also hit hard, according to Springett: Union Island, Mayreau and Canouan.

Speaking from Grenada, Springett said the UN is working closely with the Caribbean Disaster Management Agency and national disaster response agencies to help those in need, and is sending teams to assess needs.

The UN has released $1.5 million from its emergency relief fund to be shared between Grenada and St Vincent for immediate life-saving assistance, he said. A logistics hub has also been set up in Barbados.

Springett said Carriacou is now accessible, with a coast guard ship in port, a French navy ship arriving on Friday and a public ferry running every day.

A ship leaving St. Vincent on Saturday will drop supplies on the outer islands of the Grenadines and then continue to Carriacou and Petit Martinique, he said. Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana are also sending aid.

Police and coast guards on the island are unloading the ships and then distributing relief supplies, he said. A volunteer crew is taking a ship to Carriacou on Saturday to clear roads, and the government is shipping vehicles to help with distribution.

Springett stressed that people’s lives and livelihoods have been devastated and urged donors to help Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines recover.

After reaching both countries, Beryl barricaded by the Caribbean Sea where it hit the southern coast of Jamaica on Wednesday, killing at least 11 people as it moved through the Caribbean on its way to The Mexican Yucatan PeninsulaOn Friday, the hurricane reached the resort town of Tulum and was heading for Texas.

Dennis Zulu, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Jamaica and the Bahamas, told reporters Friday that flash flood warnings were still in effect in several parts of Jamaica, with 70% of the population in the worst-affected areas without water and 40% without electricity.

The government is currently implementing an assessment of the damage and needs, he said. “The damage is visible everywhere,” with many homes destroyed, especially in the rural South, he said.

The UN emergency fund has released $2.5 million for Jamaica to help with immediate needs, Zulu said.

Both Zulu and Springett were concerned that Beryl was the first of 20 hurricanes expected this season. They warned that the impact would slow down economic development in the Caribbean islands, which lack a financial buffer for reconstruction.

Caribbean nations have been preparing for the storms, Zulu said. And the fact that Beryl came so early in the hurricane season “gives us the opportunity to see and improve, and learn some lessons from this experience.”