Mr. Dennis Zulu, the Resident Coordinator for Jamaica and Mr. Simon Springett, the Resident Coordinator for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean brief virtually on the aftermath in the Caribbean of Hurricane Beryl.

The United Nations Resident Coordinator for the Eastern Caribbean, Simon Springett, today (5 Jul) told journalist in New York that the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada, “were really dramatically catastrophically hit” by Hurricane Beryl, and said, “hopefully tourists won't give up on visiting these lovely islands.”

Springett said, “desalination plants have been knocked out. All of the cell towers have been knocked out. All of the fibre optic cables have been knocked out. The roads are impassable. We probably have about 95 percent of the housing stock destroyed. So, really, and that means by default all local businesses, all the income generating activities, and the list goes on.”

He said, “for tourism, clearly this is going to be a major, major impact, particularly on those smaller islands, in the Grenadines and in the north of Grenada,” adding that “fortunately, major infrastructure such as airports and ports weren’t hugely damaged.”

For his part, the Resident Coordinator for Jamaica, Dennis Zulu, said, “the government response has been activated and the UN stands ready to assist drawing from experiences.”

The UN, Zulu said, “has activated its emergency task team, co-chaired by UNICEF and WFP in Jamaica, and this team has been advising for UN country team and the default needs of the government in areas such as protection, WASH, which is water sanitation and hygiene, education, shelters, logistics and health, nutrition and of course, early recovery, food security and telecommunications.”

The cost of the disaster, he said, “has not fully being articulated” but noted that “the damage is widely apparent and is felt by persons from all walks of life, especially in rural Jamaica, including the southern parishes of Clarendon, Manchester and St. Elizabeth and those in vulnerable housing.”

Secretary-General has reiterated his solidarity with countries affected by Hurricane Beryl, releasing $4 million from the Organization’s emergency response fund to kickstart relief efforts.

Hurricane Beryl, the strongest hurricane in history to form in June in the Atlantic Ocean, wreaked havoc as it swept through Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Jamaica.

Initially a tropical depression, Beryl rapidly intensified into a Category 4 hurricane and briefly reached Category 5 status, with winds up to 240 km/h (150 mph).