Grenada’s sister island Carriacou has felt the full brunt of Hurricane Beryl.
Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell, in a live television address just before noon, said reports indicated there was destruction and devastation in Carriacou and Petit Martinique.
The powerful Category 4 hurricane was on course on pass north of mainland Grenada but the eye passed directly over Carriacou, leading to significant damage to buildings, loss of roofs and storm surges.
“The expectation is that the damage in Carriacou and Petit Martinique is going to be extreme. Minister for Carriacou and Petit Martinique Tevin Andrews indicated that there was devastation all around. We therefore expect that we will have to quickly transition into damage assessment and recovery and stabilisation mode. We are already beginning to look at our plans to make sure that we respond as quickly as possible to the needs of our brothers and sisters in Carriacou and Petit Martinique.”
The 11 a.m. update from the National Hurricane Centre in Miami said the centre of Hurricane Beryl was located near latitude 12.4 North, longitude 61.3 West – Carriacou is located at latitude 12.4 North, longitude 61.3 West . The maximum sustained winds were 140 miles an hour and the system was moving west north-west at 20 miles per hour.
Mitchell said there were no reports of loss of lives or injuries and added that he would journey across to Carriacou as soon as it was safe to do so to get an assessment of the damage.
“We have reports of extensive storm surge, we have reports of extensive loss of roofs and damage to buildings. There is no electricity on any of the islands. Communication is also difficult because of the rough seas and because the eye of the hurricane has just passed over Carriacou we anticipate that we may be in for another three to four hours of intense have strong storm surge. There is the likelihood of even greater damage,” Mitchell said.
“In circumstances we have to continue to hunker down. We have to continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in Carriacou and Petit Martinique. And we certainly hope that the hurricane moves on quickly so that we can get the opportunity hopefully by late evening, to begin the damage assessment and recovery operations. We will be working closely with our regional partners to make sure that we can do so.” (HG)
