Tropical Terror: The Wrath of Hurricane Beryl

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 every year. Jamaica’s most devastating hurricane was Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, and as a child, it’s something all the grown-ups spoke about every time storms came up in conversation. I think they were all traumatized from the lack of electricity and running water for weeks as the country grappled with billions of damages and had a delay in restoring these vital connections. Jamaicans learnt a lot about how to prepare for hurricanes since then. My first hurricane was Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and I feel foolish that I’d wanted to experience one in my child-like ignorance; now I wish to NEVER experience one again. Since then we’ve had a string of other dangerous storms such as Hurricanes Dennis and Emily in 2005, Dean in 2008 and Sandy in 2012, but Beryl has surpassed them all.

Jamaica is very fortunate. We rarely sustain direct hit with the eye of an hurricane at which it is most powerful. They say it’s due to the protective factor of our eastern Blue Mountains which weakens most storms, or maybe it’s a bit of luck, or prayer. That being said, Jamaica was hit with the outer bands of Hurricane Beryl on Wednesday July 3, 2024 and has sustained very serious damage– the extent of which is still being calculated, and the restoration of power, water and cell signal has been moving at snail’s pace. I, myself, was without power and water at home for 4 and 2 days respectively! Even now, my cell signal is still choppy.

That being said, my heart aches for the south coast of the island which has sustained the most damage. Many homes, guesthouses and shops have lost their roofs, which means that all their furniture and belongings have been ruined. Some areas are flooded, several roads were left impassable and many trees have fallen. The beautiful Holland Bamboo with its tall overarching bamboo plants– first planted in the 1700s– has been decimated. Holland Bamboo was once said to be the most photographed place in the island.

Taken from Flickr, Holland Bamboo pre-hurricane

It was so scary watching the forecast for the hurricane as it was originally projected to make direct hit. Imagine how much worse things would have been if that happened! Because of work, my partner and I got caught in the last minute rush to secure candles, dried and canned goods ahead of the storm. Working at a hospital, we were ordered to discharge as many patients as was safely possible as per our national Disaster Risk Management Act. Surely, we could not start the hurricane over our carrying capacity as we were the day before the hurricane. I had a 8-4pm shift on the day of the hurricane which was projected to make landfall by noon, and I urged my teammates to come out early to see and sort all our patients so we could leave early, and it worked! I packed to stay overnight if I needed to, but was able to make it home about half hour before landfall.

It was terrifying to watch from my window how strong the breeze got, ripping off branches and tossing them around at high speeds– the rain was the least. After all, Hurricane Beryl was a category 4 hurricane with winds of up to  209-251 km/h. Crazy, right? Thankfully, I suffered no structural damage– just the inconvenience of disruption to power, water and cell signal and my best friend’s wedding had to be rescheduled.

Treasure Beach, one of the most affected towns

My heart aches for the south coast of Jamaica, which as you may know, is my favourite part of the island after the parish of Portland. Our south coast has been declared a disaster zone. Recovery is slated to take several months, and even now most residents are without the vital connections of power, water and cell signal one week later. But, worse off yet are our Caribbean neighbours of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada. The Grenadian islands of Carriacou and Petit-Martinique have been essentially flattened.

What’s so bizarre about Hurricane Beryl is that this is the earliest category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record going back to around 100 years. Sure, it weakened to a category 4 by time it hit Jamaica, but… I have never seen any hurricane hit the Caribbean so early in the season. My scheduled post last week about “How to Beat the Heat” was timely because in it, I alluded to climate change and our unstable weather conditions in the Caribbean as a result. It’s important to acknowledge that the Caribbean & Latin America, despite contributing less than 10% to global greenhouse gas emissions, continues to bear the brunt of the brutal devastation of the accelerating climate crisis. This is wrong. Earth is starting to feel like a bad group project.

But, my people are resilient. We survived the horrors of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and 300 years of brutal enslavement, yet we’re still here. Climate change is just another struggle to adapt to. As they say, to know where you are going, you have to understand where you have come from. So, like everything else in life, I’ll take my lessons from Hurricane Beryl and keep it moving. Going forward, I’ve realized that I need to keep a constant stock of canned foods, candles, matches, battery-operated/solar lanterns and to get more power banks. And, I’ll try to see to it that my neighbours trim the trees which surround us at the start of each hurricane season.

Post-Beryl Jamaica

Stock Photo

After every hurricane/rainy season, there is an uptick in mosquito-borne diseases (dengue, chikungunya and Zika viruses) and leptospirosis which is spread via contaminated flood waters. If you live in or will visit Jamaica soon, I suggest educating yourself on the signs and symptoms of these diseases so you can seek medical attention if necessary. Also, our farms have been decimated which means there will be a hike in food prices soon. Brace yourselves. Try growing what you can with backyard and indoor home gardens.

How You Can Help

Post hurricane blooms

On a brighter note, nature seems to have done its pruning. The rivers are flowing strong and heavy; our drought is over for now. Fallen trees and branches have given way to clearer views, and my garden is flourishing from the rain. Lastly, if you would like to help the people of Jamaica, here are some reputable ways to assist in cash or kind:

• A GoFundMe from the 2024 JCDC St. Elizabeth Festival Queen
• The American Friends of Jamaica (AFJ)
• Food for the Poor – NCB bank account details are available for local donations. Physical donations of cash, repair materials, bottled water and non-perishable food items can be delivered to their drop-off location at Ellerslie Pen, Spanish Town.
• ODPEM- https://disasterfund.opm.gov.jm/
• Alternatively, you can donate to ODPEM at the banking details provided here.

‘Til next time, find Elle on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.