Mr Michel said many people on the main island of Grenada had lost their homes, but the devastation was worse on Carriacou and Petite Martinique. Officials were still trying to assess the extent of damage to the two islands, particularly to the power grid and water supply.
Grenada, like other Caribbean nations, obtains most of its drinking water from rainwater harvesting, including roof drains that lead to collection vessels. Terence Smith, head of the country’s water agency, said the storm damage was not expected to immediately cause life-threatening shortages on Carriacou and Petit Martinique.
“We believe it’s highly unlikely,” Mr Smith said on Tuesday. “If it is true that most of the houses have lost their roofs, they can no longer collect rainwater. But many of these houses have weeks of storage.”
However, recent dry spells have led many households on the islands to depend on it Desalination plants for water, and Mr. Smith said plants on Carriacou and Petite Martinique “were probably negatively affected by the storm.” That system was under stress Before the hurricane hits.
Beryl set records as the first Category 4 hurricane early in the season in the Atlantic Ocean, and then the first Category 5 hurricane. A recent study found that as ocean temperatures rise, hurricanes in the Atlantic become more likely to grow from weak hurricanes to major hurricanes of Category 3 or greater in just 24 hours.
Mr Mitchell called Beryl a direct result of global warming and said Grenada and countries like it were on the frontline of the climate crisis. “We are no longer ready to accept that it is okay for us to suffer significant, well-documented losses and damages arising from climate events and expect to rebuild year after year while the countries responsible for creating this situation — and exacerbating this situation. is – Sit idly,” he said.
Joanne Johnston contributed reporting from Kingston, Jamaica, and Daphne Ewing-Chow from Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands.