An unusually violent and early hurricane made its first landfall Monday morning on Carriacou Island in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, following a weekend of intense preparation and anxiety in the Caribbean.
Hurricane Beryl, notable for being the strongest tropical storm ever to pass through the region so early in the Atlantic season, lashed the Windward Islands in the southeast Caribbean with winds up to 150 miles an hour.
Hurricane Beryl was upgraded to a Category 5 storm overnight Tuesday July 2, becoming the strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded this early in a season. Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and Mexico are preparing for impact.
In anticipation of meeting medical and health needs on the ground, Direct Relief has already reached out to partners across the region, including the Barbados Ministry of Health, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the World Food Programme, and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, along with a number of local partners.
And, in preparation for events like Hurricane Beryl, Direct Relief has already staged caches of commonly needed medications and supplies — called Hurricane Preparedness Packs — throughout this area of the Caribbean as well as the larger region. Regional stockpiles are ready in St. Lucia, Barbados, Puerto Rico, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica.
