On the isle of Wight during the summer, we followed the track of hurricane Beryl with keen interest because our boat was on the hard in Grenada, directly in its projected path. Just hours before it made landfall, the hurricane altered its track by 20 degrees to the north. To our relief, the first reports we received were that all the boats in our yard were undamaged, but this was quickly followed by the appalling news about Carriacou and Union Island. The island of Carriacou, just 30 miles north of us was badly hit, but Union Island, only 5 miles further north, was devastated, with 90% of the houses demolished and many of the inhabitants evacuated to St Vincent. In the hours and days after the storm we followed the news and checked in with our contacts in the area. One of our friends from Grenada had lost her uncle in the storm on Carriacou and all the boats in the yard at Tyrell Bay had suffered significant damage and many more boats had sunk in the lagoon.
We also contacted our friends on Union Island where the damage was even worse. Our friend Martin, a resident of Union for over forty years, sent us pictures of the remains of his house, built of concrete twenty years ago, but now with just the water tank and foundations remaining. So, as we motor into the little harbour in the capital of Clifton six months later, we are expecting to see evidence of the storm, but nothing prepares us for the scene of destruction. We have witnessed the aftermath of hurricanes before when we were in Vanuatu in the Pacific, but what i see as i walk down the high street in Clifton is yet more shocking.
Every single building is crumbling. Many of the structures along the shore have simply disappeared, and those that are left have all been severely damaged, most beyond repair. Even the concrete main road running through the village is cracked and buckled. It's hard to imagine what sort of force could have created this carnage. The wealthier inhabitants have started rebuilding but most of the residents still seem to be in a state of shock, many still living in tents. All the little bars and restaurants that were nestled around the port are just rubble and the brightly coloured stalls in the market have disappeared, replaced by mounds of concrete piled into huge mounds so as to clear the streets of debris. A few vendors have set up stalls and i buy something from every one, not wanting to deprive them of their produce but also keen to contribute as much as we can directly into the hands of those most affected. I meet our friend Vanessa who used to run a lovely beach bar on Chatham Bay and she tells me that everything they had has been demolished. They plan to rebuild but the government is refusing to allow them back onto the beach.
Our friend Martin comes to the boat for coffee and tells us more about the hurricane. During the storm he sheltered in his adult daughter's house with his two grown-up sons and when the air became white with spume they had to drill holes in the doors and windows and pass lines through to lash them shut. People witnessed a steel shipping container flying over their heads and disappearing to the other side of the island where it sits to this day. The eye of the storm passed just to the south, leaving Union in the most dangerous north east sector of the hurricane. Having experienced sailing in the Pacific in 60 knot winds i can't even imagine what 150 knot winds must be like. Everyone we spoke to said how lucky they were that the storm hit during daylight hours, smashing into the island at 9am, peaking at midday and by 4pm it had passed. It is reported that there were seven fatalities but if it had struck during darkness, hundreds more might have died. Martin told us that as people emerged from their shelters they were stunned into silence, wandering through the streets, unable to comprehend the extent of the destruction.
Jeremie Tronet, who owned the kite surfing school on the beach in the lagoon at Clifton, was in Martinique when the hurricane hit. Hearing first hand of the scale of the destruction he immediately set up a GoFundMe and used his own funds in advance of receiving any donations, to supply urgent aid to the island. The day after the storm, the small runway was cleared so that urgent supplies could be air lifted in to provide emergency relief. In the days following, a number of private and government organisations mobilised their resources providing the urgent disaster relief, however six months on from the storm, Union Island still looks like a war zone. My abiding memory walking through the streets was that i didn't see a single child as they have all been sent to the main island of St Vincent where they are living in shelters with friends and relatives until conditions improve and they can rejoin their families.
Despite the best efforts of the many well intentioned people, there is much talk of corruption and the unfair distribution of government aid. Some private organisations are providing support and in return have been offered some of the gems of Union Island for development. Chatham Bay, one of the loveliest bays in the Caribbean, is rumoured to have been gifted to one developer in return for aid. Although this seems deeply unfair to the residents, the scale of the relief operation is simply too great for the government to achieve by itself and it will take years before the island is back on its feet. Although it will change this lovely island forever, it may be that international investment is to the only way to make the island habitable and self-sufficient again.
In the meantime, as the aid agencies move on to new, more urgent situations in the region, Union risks becoming forgotten and there is already fear that when the government switches off its voucher program at the end of December, residents will struggle to find the most basic resources. Even now, community kitchens staffed by volunteers continue to feed a large proportion of the population. We found this a deeply depressing situation and we were both very moved by the plight of the islanders. For anyone who would like to contribute to the relief effort, i think the best way is probably to visit Jeremie's GoFundMe at https://gofund.me/c0858df8
Please note that the picture in the header is of the kite surfing beach last year, before the hurricane. This beach no longer exists and the kite school building has been flattened. While walking through the village of Clifton it felt inappropriate to take photographs so i include a few stock pictures to give you an idea of the devastation.
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