Adventist Church Leaders Assess Damages in the Aftermath of Hurricane Beryl

Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders are still assessing the needs of those affected by Hurricane Beryl, a category 4 storm that ripped through a string of islands in the Caribbean Sea on June 30 and July 1. The powerful hurricane claimed the lives of three people and caused power outages, triggered landslides, uprooted trees, and damaged roads and bridges, stranding residents.

Hurricane Beryl struck the islands of Barbados, Grenada, and its two dependent islands, Carriacou and Petit Martinique, as well as St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Winds reaching 150 miles per hour (240 kmh) pounded the islands for many hours.

Islands of Carriacou and Petit Martinique

“There is literally no communication with our Grenadine islands, Carriacou and Petit Martinique, but we are hearing that Petit Martinique is flattened and Carriacou is decimated,” Enoch Isaac, president of the Grenada Conference of the Adventist Church, said on July 1. Church membership on both islands totals 208.

According to the Prime Minister of Grenada Dickon Mitchell, the storm flattened Carriacou within a half hour. Other government leaders reported that 98 percent of housing in both Carriacou and Petit Martinique was damaged or destroyed.

“We are yet to reach and make contact with our missionary on the island of Petit Martinique and our ministerial family on Carriacou, and we are praying for the safety of all our church members,” Isaac said.

Most of the Grenadine Islands are still without power or running water, and the communication infrastructure is in a weakened state, Isaac said.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Union Island, which is part of St. Vincent, remains without power, said Brent St. Jean, youth ministries director of the church’s St. Vincent Conference. Leaders were able to contact church members from the only church on the island. Members reported that water and food was limited since all stores were destroyed. More than 300 church members live on the island.

“The stories have been painful to hear,” St. Jean said. “They make me want to cry! The number of people who have been trapped in their homes and in shelters for so many hours and only to be rescued after the storm left is just so sad.”

Local church leaders are still waiting to receive assessment reports from the Grenadine island of Bequia and parts of the mainland on St. Vincent, which will be possible once the evaluation of the damage is completed, church leaders said.

Mobilizing Humanitarian Effort

Despite the setbacks, Adventist congregations across the conferences of the church’s Caribbean Union territory were mobilizing their humanitarian efforts for those in need.

“The church is organizing assistance to persons in need of food, clothing, and repairs to roofs,” Anthony Hall, president of the East Caribbean Conference based on Barbados, said. Hall reported from local leaders that churches were sound. “That is in no way compared to what has been experienced in Carriacou and Union Island, but when the assessment is completed, the East Caribbean Conference, through its Community Services and the local ADRA office, will be teaming up to help,” he said.

Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) local offices were assessing damage and making schedules to provide relief to affected communities.

Alexander Isaacs, ADRA Caribbean director, said that ADRA’s initial response will consist of providing water, food baskets, and hygiene kits to 12,000 people on the affected islands.

ADRA Moving Quickly to Assist

Isaacs said he has not seen such a disaster hit so many islands at one time. “This is quite unprecedented as far as widespread damage here,” he said. “Some of these islands have not been hit like this in over 100 years, so the devastation is quite shocking.” The plan is to provide water, food blankets, and tarpaulins for thousands of people, Isaacs added.

Isaacs said he has been working daily with ADRA Inter-America and ADRA International leaders to assist communities in the wake of Hurricane Beryl.

An ADRA Emergency Response Team, including trained experts from ADRA International, ADRA Inter-America, ADRA South America, and ADRA Caribbean, is scheduled to arrive by the end of the week to coordinate the efforts, including packaging of goods by church member volunteers and the distribution of those immediate needs, Isaacs explained. “Additionally, the team will continue the need assessment with other partners, and government disaster response agencies to better assist in the resettlement of affected families once the initial response was completed.”

“We are facing just the beginning of one of the most active hurricane seasons on record,” Elián Giaccarini, Emergency Management Coordinator of the ADRA Inter-America regional office, said. “We know that our equipment will be tested to the maximum, but we are ready to respond to the humanitarian challenge that lies ahead.”

ADRA Inter-America and ADRA International have made funds available to assist in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, David Poloche, ADRA Inter-America director, said. “We are committed as a church and as ADRA to accompany the most affected communities for as long as necessary.” Poloche said ADRA is already preparing for Beryl’s next targets, including Jamaica and the Yucatan peninsula.

“No doubt it will take months before church members can rebuild their homes and the churches can be rebuilt,” Kern Tobias, president of the Caribbean Union, said. “The thing about our people in the islands is that they are very resilient and would move about fast to pitch some tarpaulin, get the church running, and start ministering again in the community,” Tobias said. “We continue to pray for our members and remain committed to providing the best assistance we can in the aftermath of these disasters.”

The original version of this story was posted on the Inter-American Division news site.