Gemma Raeburn-Baynes was only a child when, in 1955, 14 of her family members were killed in Hurricane Janet, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, when it passed through Grenada.
Now, after a fierce Category 4 hurricane struck her home country this week, decimating two islands, she again fears for her loves ones.
“My uncle and my cousins. I have not heard from them. It’s worrisome,” said Raeburn-Baynes, a prominent member of Montreal’s Grenadian community, whose family lives in Saint Patrick, southwest of the major destruction.
Hurricane Beryl has caused significant damage in the southeast Caribbean and killed at least six people across Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Venezuela since it began ripping through the region Monday.
WATCH | Hurricane has caused widespread damage across southeastern Caribbean:
After devastating parts of the southeast Caribbean, Hurricane Beryl churned toward Jamaica Tuesday as a monstrous storm. While the extent of the damage so far is unclear, authorities have said the picture on some islands is grim, with widespread destruction.
The islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique in Grenada were hit hardest when the storm made landfall, with scores of homes and businesses flattened.
“It’s complete devastation,” said Nicole Swann, president of the Grenada Nationals Association of Montreal, who has family on the country’s mainland.
“You have fallen telephone lines, the roads are blocked, there’s no water, there’s no electricity, the hospital has been damaged,” she said.
Swann says she’s heard from her family members, but like Raeburn-Baynes, others in Montreal are still scrambling to contact loves ones.
“I’m not sure about my family’s homes, what happened, so it’s very, very hard,” Raeburn-Baynes said.
Relief drives and support
In spite of the worry and uncertainty, Swann, Raeburn-Baynes and other Caribbean organizations have stepped up to organize relief efforts to help those in need.
“They need non-perishable foods, they need water, they need tarpaulin,” Swann said. “A lot of people have to rebuild.”
Raeburn-Baynes says a relief drive will be set up at Greenz, a Grenadian restaurant in Montreal’s Lachine borough, where workers will be collecting money, food, toiletries and more.
The Spice Island Cultural Festival, founded by Raeburn-Baynes and running from July 11 to 14, will also provide an opportunity for people to come together and learn more about what is happening on the ground.
“We can support each other and just be there for each other,” she said.
Dickon Mitchell, the prime minister of Grenada, is supposed to make his first trip to Montreal next week for the festival, “and hopefully we can send [him] home with a good chunk of change to help with the rebuilding of the island,” she said.
As for Montreal’s Caribbean cultural festival, slated to close off this weekend with its main parade event, Swann says organizers will also still go ahead with the celebrations, using the time together to think of more ways to help support the people of Grenada and other Caribbean islands that were hit.
Rescue flights from Jamaica
Beryl is expected to hit Jamaica Wednesday, bringing life-threatening winds and storm surge. Officials warned residents in flood-prone areas to prepare for evacuation and the entire country is under curfew from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Three planes chartered on Tuesday by Air Transat to repatriate customers from Montego Bay due to the storm arrived in Canada early Wednesday: two in Montreal and one in Toronto.
Louis Edgar was supposed to come home from his vacation Friday, but instead flew out of Montego Bay late Tuesday night back into Montreal.
He said the skies were still blue and the sun was shining by the time he’d left his resort, but “better safe than sorry.”
George Grant, honorary consul for Jamaica in Montreal, says the Jamaican government is taking measures to ensure that no one is left out on the street when the storm strikes.
“Luckily, we had a fair enough warning of the storm so the government had the time to initiate its protocol,” he said.
He says in Montreal, people are in touch with their loved ones, but once the storm picks up, “communication more than likely will be cut” due to power outages.
Grant says once the storm passes and the damage is assessed, people across the city will be mobilized to help organize relief efforts.
Still, he says such a powerful storm this early in the summer is concerning in the context of climate change and its effect on the tourism industry.
“One can only wonder what will happen when the season goes on,” he said.
Global Affairs Canada (GAC) advised Canadians to avoid “all travel” to Haiti as well as “all non-essential travel to the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Union Island in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and to Carriacou and Petite Martinique in Grenada” in a statement issued Tuesday evening.
According to GAC, there are 3,162 Canadians registered in Haiti; 1,524 in the Cayman Islands; 1,625 in Jamaica; 236 in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and 341 in Grenada.