Samaritan's Purse is hard at work in Carriacou and in other Caribbean islands devastated by Hurricane Beryl. They are reminded that God has not forgotten them after the storm.
Hurricane Beryl roared through the Windward Islands as a Category 4 storm, leaving total destruction in its wake. The small island of Carriacou, which is a part of Grenada, took the brunt of the storm. Nearly every home and building lost its roof, and many collapsed completely under the powerful winds.
Homes on Carriacou were flattened within minutes of Beryl’s landfall.
The island is home to nearly 10,000 people living in familial communities where everyone knows everyone. Now, their hardships are multiplied as no one was left unscathed and there are few fellow islanders to turn to for help.
The island’s landscape is littered with rubble, with mere scraps of homes, with roofless houses, with misplaced furniture and household items, and with other remnants of these close-knit communities now scattered along streets and fields.
Lyndona Charles’ story is similar to those of many of her fellow Carriacouans. She’s lived here her entire life, but said she’s never experienced a storm so absolute in its destructive force.
Lyndona, right, a lifelong resident of Grenada, recounted terrifying moments during Beryl’s landfall on Carriacou.
“The storm was going to devour everything in its path,” she said.
She hunkered down as the wind raged around them, sheltering with her two children near an inside wall at the center their home. They watched above as the gale ripped off their roof. They braced together as the outside walls crumbled around them.
Lyndona said they also prayed together for God’s protection. It was the only thing they knew to do.
In the midst of the storm that left at least six people dead and that flattened entire neighborhoods, she began to worship the Lord and entrust her family’s lives into His hands. She said, “It’s only Him that has saved us because there was nothing over us to keep us.”
Serving the Suffering to Remind Them They Are Not Forgotten
Shortly after Beryl passed over Cariaccou and other southern Caribbean islands, Samaritan’s Purse got to work transporting teams and supplies to help families like Lyndona’s. Since July 2, we have been rushing relief aboard our DC-8 and providing residents with emergency shelter material, solar lights, and clean water.
Many Carriacou communities were left in tatters.
Though the Charles family was grateful to find shelter with a neighbor whose home was miraculously left standing, our supplies of heavy-duty tarp and solar light helped kindle Lyndona’s resolve. Now perhaps they could begin the tedious cleanup and rebuilding of their lives.
And the simple gift of a solar light provided them a much-needed light source during nighttime hours on an island still without electricity. Lyndona feared her battery-operated lights would die soon.
A child learns how to operate his family’s solar-powered light.
“It will help a great deal,” Lyndona said. “I thank God for the kindness of those who send this. We are very grateful. Very grateful.”
Partner Churches Provide a Lifeline to Relief and Restored Hope
Samaritan’s Purse is partnering with Thy Kingdom Come Deliverance Sanctuary, a church in Grenada with locations in mainland Grenada, Carriacou, and Petite Martinique.
Pastor Happy Akasie, senior pastor of our partner church Thy Kingdom Come Deliverance Sanctuary.
Senior Pastor Happy Akasie stayed committed to serving his community even after losing his roof. He says the devastation has created an open door for the Gospel.
“My prayer is, first and foremost, that people get hope because a lot of people are hopeless. You can look in their eyes, you talk to them, they’re lost. They don’t know where to go from here,” he said.
Every tarp, solar light, and jerry can full of clean water is an opportunity to remind people that they are not alone.
Pastor Happy understands this as he helps distribute tarps alongside our team, and is encouraged to see joy and gratitude on the faces of the people we serve. These seemingly simple supplies were buoying their spirits.
“We’re bringing Christ to them. So we are really trusting God that people get hope and that they know God still loves them. We pray that this situation will draw them closer to God,” he said.
Clean Water Reaches Families in Need
Nearly a week after the storm, there is still no electricity or running water on Carriacou.
Lucy Clement is grateful for clean drinking water from our filtration system and for God’s protection sparing her and her family.
Samaritan’s Purse has been able to establish access to clean drinking water with our community water filtration and desalination system. The distribution point has become a hub of community activity and point of connection as families fill the jerry cans we provided to take clean water home to their families.
Lucy Clement said it’s the worst hurricane she has ever experienced during a lifetime on the island. It was 100 percent worse than any previous Carriacou storms.
Huddled in her bathroom with her disabled son and grandson and fearing for their lives, the hours were terrifying. Their neighbor’s roof landed on theirs, crushing their roof in the process.
Samaritan’s Purse is sling loading supplies from our helicopter to Petite Martinique.
As Lucy filled up her jerry can with clean water, she expressed gratitude that their lives were spared. She had hopes of rebuilding, and she was grateful that Samaritan’s Purse had come to help so quickly after her community’s darkest moment.
FOLLOW OUR ONGOING CARIBBEAN RESPONSE
“Thank God. Praise God,” Lucy said, expressing relief that our water system could make the island’s brackish water drinkable. “It’s a desalination unit—wow, thank God. We just have to give God thanks and praise for all the helpers.”
As Samaritan’s Purse continues to work in the Caribbean, our operations are expanding. Disaster Assistance Response Team members are now based in three locations—Grenada, St. Vincent and Jamaica. The DC-8 cargo plane has delivered more than 50 tons of emergency relief supplies across the Caribbean. This now includes an Emergency Field Hospital being constructed in Carriacou and staffed by our doctors and nurses to provide inpatient and outpatient medical care.
Please continue to pray for suffering families across the islands and that our work will point them to the true hope that can only be found in Jesus Christ.
We are also setting up a field hospital to provide medical services where crippled infrastructure has cut off access to care.
