Hurricane Beryl barrels across the Caribbean

By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital

Hello,

Today’s newsletter focuses on the devastating hurricane wreaking havoc across the Caribbean.

Hurricane Beryl thrashed Jamaica with heavy winds and rain, killing at least one person after forging a destructive, water-soaked path across smaller Caribbean islands over the past couple of days. The hurricane steamed towards the Cayman Islands and Mexico on Thursday.

The death toll from the Category 4 hurricane climbed to at least 10, but it is widely expected to rise further as communications come back online across islands damaged by flooding and deadly winds.

Also on my radar today:

A man looks at breaking waves in the Caribbean Terrace neighborhood as Hurricane Beryl approaches, in Kingston, Jamaica. REUTERS/Marco Bello

In Jamaica, Beryl’s eyewall skirted the island’s southern coast, pummeling communities as emergency groups rushed to evacuate people from flood-prone areas.

“It’s terrible. Everything’s gone. I’m in my house and scared,” said Amoy Wellington, a 51-year-old cashier who lives in Top Hill, a rural farming community in Jamaica’s southern St. Elizabeth parish. “It’s a disaster.”

A woman died in Jamaica’s Hanover parish after a tree fell on her home, Richard Thompson, acting director general at Jamaica’s disaster agency said in an interview on local news. Nearly a thousand Jamaicans were in shelters by Wednesday evening, Thompson added.

Power outages were widespread across Jamaica, while some roads near the coast were washed out.

Ralph Gonsalves, prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, one of the hardest-hit areas in the eastern Caribbean, said in a radio interview that the country’s Union Island was “flattened” by Beryl. “Everybody is homeless … It is going to be a Herculean effort to rebuild.”

In Grenada, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell described “Armageddon-like” conditions with no power and widespread destruction, while also confirming three deaths.

In Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro told state television that three people had died and four were missing, along with more than 8,000 homes damaged by torrential rains, including at least 400 destroyed.

Powerful Hurricane Beryl was the 2024 Atlantic season’s first hurricane and the earliest storm on record to reach the strongest possible ranking of Category 5, before weakening to Category 4 as it barrelled towards Jamaica on Wednesday.

Record-breaking sea temperatures that allow tropical storms to get stronger faster, driven by human-caused climate change and cyclical weather patterns, are fueling what scientists say is shaping up to be a very dangerous hurricane season.

A Category 5 is the strongest hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, bringing winds of 157 mph (252 kph) or higher, capable of causing catastrophic damage including the destruction of homes and infrastructure.

Since 1960, only 30 Atlantic hurricanes have reached Category 5, with 2005 – the year Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans – setting the record for the most recorded in a single season, at four.

Latin America and the Caribbean should brace for the arrival of La Nina, the climate pattern seen fueling a highly active hurricane season in the Atlantic and greater climate variability across the region, experts said.

The World Meteorological Organization organized a webinar on La Nina’s threat as Hurricane Beryl was tearing across the eastern Caribbean.

La Nina, a climate pattern that begins with colder-than-normal ocean temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, is linked to both floods and drought, as well as an increase in the frequency of hurricanes in the Caribbean.

“Again, now, (we are in) a transition to the La Nina phenomenon,” said Jose Luis Stella, of the Regional Climate Center for Southern South America, warning that La Nina threatens to bring “rapid variability” to an already extreme climate.

The experts said that La Nina could cause a repeat of historic droughts in South America similar to those recorded between 2020 and 2023.

Survivors Viola Fletcher & Hughes Van Ellis on the centennial anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre. Greenwood Cultural Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Andrew Griffiths, director of policy and corporate development at Planet Mark, a UK-based environmental services firm, shares his thoughts on the UK general election and his hopes for future climate policies:

“We are quickly approaching several crucial climate tipping points. It is vital for the next government to recognise net zero as an investment opportunity, paving the way for a cleaner, healthier, and more prosperous society.

 “To do this, the new Government needs to first set a policy-driven timeline and deadline for businesses to report at least Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions on an annual basis to deliver emissions transparency.

“It also needs to encourage education and training in the green sector to fill the crucial demands from businesses for carbon emissions measurement, reductions and strategy.”

When floods hit the eastern Australian town of Lismore two years ago, Adam Bailey lost all the historic collections from his antique store, including rare photos of the Dardanelles taken during World War One.

Now, when it rains at night, he can’t sleep. If he wants to insure his new store and its contents at a nearby location, he needs to fork out almost A$80,000 ($53,272.00) – peace of mind he says he cannot afford. Click here for the full Reuters analysis.

Matteo Santopadre, a former shooting champion who had a coma for months after a car accident, feeds a horse. San Giovanni Battista Hospital in Rome, Italy. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

Today’s spotlight focuses on a heartwarming animal conservation and mental health initiative in Italy.

In an area of Rome that once hosted horse races, four horses and two ponies move at a much slower pace to help neurological patients restore their movements and confidence.

With handles on the side of their saddles, the animals at the San Giovanni Battista Hospital allow some people to take their first halting steps after trauma, strokes, degenerative diseases, as well as long COVID.

“It’s a beautiful feeling, to be able to stay in equilibrium, to be able to walk. It’s difficult but with the horse I can do it,” said former shooting champion Matteo Santopadre, who relies on a wheelchair after a months-long coma following a car accident.

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