This relief drive will run for 10 business days, from July 16 – July 29, 2024.
On July 1, 2024, Hurricane Beryl—the strongest hurricane to form in the Atlantic in the month of June— made landfall in Grenada’s Carriacou Island. With heavy windfall and winds up to 150 mph, Hurricane Beryl caused widespread damage across Grenada, Jamaica, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines before moving to the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula.
The impact of Hurricane Beryl in the Caribbean has been devastating. Thousands of people across Grenada were left homeless by the storm, which killed at least seven people and destroyed schools, businesses, and livelihoods on the archipelago. Preliminary assessments reveal that 98% of buildings in Grenada’s islands of Carriacou and Petit Martinique were damaged or destroyed, including hospitals and airports.
Likewise, Hurricane Beryl crushed power grids and destroyed water systems across St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The storm also killed livestock and damaged fishing equipment that many in impoverished communities on affected islands depended on for a living. Reports also show extensive damage to St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Union Island, where the storm damaged or destroyed 90 percent of houses.
Hurricane Beryl went on to ravage Jamaica, causing two deaths. In the days following the passage of the storm, over 60% of customers on the national electrical grid were without power. Fishing villages along the southeast coast of the island were particularly affected, destroying buildings, uprooting trees and vegetation, and destroying livestock and fishing operations. Food shortages are imminent, with an estimated US$6.4 million in food crops and supporting infrastructure destroyed.
“Together they constitute Beryl’s Armageddon,” said Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. “In just a few hours, entire islands were decimated.
Caribbean governments have appealed to the international community to mobilize resources in the wake of this historic destruction. Affected communities lack access to food and shelter and have immediate need of essential household and medical supplies. Your support is critical in providing aid to those who need it most.
How You Can Help
To support Caribbean islands in their post-hurricane recovery efforts, the disaster relief sponsors have launched a campaign to provide immediate assistance to affected communities via CARE International. Across 10 countries in the Caribbean, including Jamaica, Grenada, and St. Vincent, and the Grenadines, CARE is working through the Caribbean Humanitarian Partnership Platform to bring lifesaving aid to the communities hit by Hurricane Beryl.
Donate here now: https://worldbankgroup.benevity.org/campaigns/447 (If you are unable to access the website with your web browser, please use Google Chrome.)
- Staff and consultants in HQ and Country Offices and retirees can participate.
- Donations for this drive can be made by credit or debit card and PayPal. Credit card payments may be subject to fees from your credit card provider. Please contact your credit card provider for further details.
- Donations will be eligible for a 50% matching donation from the World Bank if at least 100 staff pledge a total of $10,000.
- The corporate match for disaster relief drives is calculated as a lump sum after the end of the drive, and therefore will not be noted in your donation receipt.
- Only donations made to “Caribbean Islands Recover from Hurricane Beryl 2024: World Bank Group Disaster Relief Drive” via the above link will be matched. Donations made directly to the NGO will not be matched.
- For any questions, please email comoutreach@worldbank.org.
This relief drive is sponsored by the Executive Directors Office (EDS07) representing Canada, Ireland, and the Caribbean (Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines), and the Caribbean Staff Association of the World Bank and IMF (CAWI). It is coordinated by ECRVP’s Community Connections in collaboration with the Latin America & Caribbean WB Regional Vice Presidency and the Europe and Latin America & the Caribbean IFC Regional Vice Presidency.
