UN Official Describes Total Devastation In Carriacou

By Vibhu Mishra, with additional reporting by Daniel Johnson in Geneva The island of Carriacou in Grenada has been virtually “flattened” by the devastating Hurricane Beryl, a senior UN official there reported on Friday, as humanitarian teams ramp up their support to communities affected across the Caribbean. Speaking via video link from Grenada, Simon Springett, UN Resident Coordinator in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, outlined a scene of total devastation in Carriacou – where Beryl first made landfall on 1 July. “The entire island is completely affected … that is literally 100 per cent of the population,” he stressed. Hurricane Beryl is the strongest hurricane in history to form in June in the Atlantic Ocean. Initially a tropical depression, it rapidly intensified into a Category 4 storm and briefly reached Category 5 status, with winds up to 240 km/h (150 mph). On Friday morning (New York time), it made landfall in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, and is reportedly tracking west-northwest, projected to make landfall in southern Texas, United States on Monday morning. ‘Very complicated crisis’ Mr. Springett highlighted the situation as a “very complicated crisis”, one that is marked by severe logistical and access challenges. Four days after the hurricane hit,...