Why in News ?
Having survived the night as Hurricane Beryl tore across her idyllic home of Union Island with ferocious force, Katrina Coy was taken aback by the extent of the devastation which lay before her.
What is Hurricane Beryl ?
Hurricane Beryl is a very powerful Atlantic hurricane moving through the western Caribbean Sea, currently approaching the Cayman Islands. Beryl is the second named storm, first hurricane, and first major hurricane[nb 1] of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season.
It is also the earliest-forming Category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record. After forming on June 28 in the Main Development Region, it began rapidly intensifying as it moved west through the central tropical Atlantic.
On July 1, Beryl made landfall on the island of Carriacou in Grenada as a high-end Category 4 hurricane, causing extensive damage. The hurricane intensified further as it entered the Caribbean Sea, peaking as a Category 5 hurricane early the next morning before gradually weakening.
Today’s News :
Virtually every building on the island, which lies off St Vincent and the Grenadines, has been razed or badly damaged, she said.
“Union Island is in a terrible state after Beryl passed. Literally, almost the whole island is homeless,” said Ms Coy in a video message.
“There are hardly any buildings left standing. Houses are flattened, roads are blocked, the electricity poles are down in the streets.”
Fisherman and fishing guide Sebastien Sailly agreed.
“Everything is lost. I have nowhere to live right now,” he said.
A resident of Union since 1985, he lived through Hurricane Ivan in 2004. But Hurricane Beryl, he said, was on another level.
“It’s like a tornado has passed through here. Ninety percent of the island – easily 90% – has been erased.”
The extent of the shock and fear is still evident in his voice.
“I was sheltering with my wife and daughter and, to tell you the truth, I wasn’t sure we would make it out at all.”
His cousin, Alizee, who runs a hotel with her family, described a horrific experience as Beryl passed over their town.
She said they had to push furniture against the doors and windows to keep the sustained winds and huge gusts from blowing them open.