Hurricane Beryl kills one in St Vincent and the Grenadines, hundreds left homeless

St Vincent and the Grenadines: In a heart-wrenching incident, Hurricane Beryl devastated the Bequia island of Grenadines, killing at least one. The storm also swept through 90 percent of houses in Union Island, confirmed Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves.

The development comes after Category 4 Hurricane Beryl caused major destruction across St Vincent and the Grenadines on Monday night.

PM Gonsalves said that the deceased was a resident of the Northern Grenadines Island of Bequia and added that he does not know all details yet. He stated that there could be more fatalities as the officials are not sure and described the hurricane as ‘devastating and dangerous’.

Meanwhile, the deceased person’s identity as well as the circumstances surrounding their death are now known at present.

The Prime Minister continued to say that, “The very dangerous and destructive Hurricane Beryl has come and has gone and it has left in its wake immense destruction, pain, suffering across our nation at this hour.”

While talking about St Vincent, he noted that hundreds of houses have been severely damaged or destroyed, leaving people distraught.

It is to be noted that the Hurricane passed through the area on July 1 and lifted off several roofs of houses as well as public buildings while threatening coastal communities with dangerous storm winds.

Just today, what is described as the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record in the Atlantic, Hurricane Beryl, has been ravaging and causing chaos in the Americas.

Nearly thousands living in those areas are currently living in poor conditions in temporary shelters, seeking refuge from the massive storm in the islands of St Vincent, the Grenadines, Grenada, and Saint Lucia.

The weather forecasters say that the storm is gaining speed as it heads towards the southern side of Mexico and is presently on its way to hit Jamaica.

“In half an hour, Carriacou was flattened,” said Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell.

Although, Barbados remains the least affected, “Right now, I’m really heartbroken,” said Vichelle Clark King, a local business owner in Barbados, while looking over her shop after the passage of Hurricane Beryl.

The hurricane is expected to reach speeds of 270 kph and is expected to slowly regress as it hits the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico.