Regional Overview and Planned Response: Hurricane Beryl, July - December 2024 (Issued 9 July 2024)

Crisis Overview

Hurricane Beryl hit Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada on 1 July as a Category 4 hurricane, increasing to a Category 5 thereafter. This makes it the earliest Category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization. Hurricane Beryl is among the worst storms to hit both countries since records began in 1851, with only Hurricane Ivan (2004) appearing to rival Beryl with respect to wind speed and proximity of passage to the islands, according to analysis based on National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data.

Hurricane Beryl passed south of The Dominican Republic and Haiti as a Category 5 Catastrophic hurricane, before slightly slowing to Category 4 upon approach to Jamaica, which was impacted on 3 July. It was then forecasted to impact the Cayman Islands on 4 July, with potential impact over the Yucatán peninsula just north of the border with Belize as a Category 1 or 2 later in the week, according to Mexican authorities. Additionally, authorities in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, while not directly in Beryl’s path, have raised alerts levels in southern areas likely to receive rains caused by Beryl.

Initial reports indicated that at least three people have been killed, including one in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and four in Grenada. In Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 90 per cent of homes on Union Island were reportedly damaged or destroyed, while in Grenada, the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique were significantly damaged. Over 3,500 people were reported evacuated from their homes ahead of Beryl’s landfall, including 1,032 people (many of whom stayed in 68 evacuation shelters) in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and 2,500 people in Grenada (many of whom stayed in 40 evacuation shelters), according to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

Over 80,000 people were potentially affected by Hurricane Beryl across Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, including more than 44,000 in Grenada, and 40,000 people in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, based on the number of people hit by wind speeds of 120 km/h or above, according to the Pacific Disaster Center (PDC Global). The number of people in need of humanitarian assistance is estimated to be nearly 60,000 people.