Relief efforts were underway in the Caribbean community of New York on Wednesday as residents watched Hurricane Beryl’s path with anxiety and sadness.
At least seven people have died in the storm in the southeastern Caribbean, with thousands without power. By Wednesday afternoon, Beryl had weakened from a Category 5 to a Category 4 hurricane as it passed south of Jamaica, battering the island with damaging winds and flooding rains.
In Brooklyn’s Little Caribbean neighborhood, people with family and friends in Jamaica watched the storm unfold closely.
Nadine Ducille, a cook at Caribbean Vibes Jamaican Restaurant and Bakery on Nostrand Avenue, said she called family members every two hours.
“My family so far is fine, they are prepared,” said Mrs. Ducille, 50. “They’re just waiting to see what happens.”
Down the street at Mozeal Botanica, a store that sold religious figurines and candles, Grace Clark, an employee there, said she had urged her children in Portland Parish, Jamaica, to fill storage tanks with plenty of clean water and keep full the cellphones. charged, in case of power loss.
“I’m on my knees and praying for covenants over people,” Ms Clarke, 50, said.
Eugene Pursoo, president of the non-profit group Caribbean Diaspora United, was born in Grenada, an island nation devastated by the storm this week. A relative of his brother’s wife died, he said, when the typhoon prevented him from flying to the United States, where he was to undergo an emergency medical procedure.
Mr Pursoo, who previously served as Grenada’s representative to the United Nations, said he feared the long-term effects Beryl’s winds and rains would have on the country’s crops and economy.
“It’s sad because we’re dealing with fragile economies and whenever we suffer this kind of disaster, we usually don’t have the money,” Mr Poursou said. “I know how families live on edge when these things happen.”
He lived through one such disaster himself: Hurricane Janet, which devastated Grenada when he was a child in 1955, destroying homes and wiping out crops. Climate change has made extreme weather more frequent in the region, experts say, and Mr Pursoo said the Caribbean American community knew how to respond.
“What I love about the Caribbean and our people is that when you have something like this, we close ranks,” he said.
Leonie Ward, secretary at Lenox Road Baptist Church in Little Caribbean, said Beryl had remembered big storms from the 1980s and early 2000s.
“I can’t say we’re used to it, but we’ve had Hurricane Gilbert and Ivan,” he said. “Because of its size, we understand what can happen.”
Dr. Trevor Dixon, founder of the JAHJAH Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides emergency medical personnel in Jamaica, was born on the island and traveled there to provide medical assistance after Hurricane Ivan in 2004. He said his father called him at that time. begging for help.
On Wednesday, Dr. Dixon said he was “exhausted and anxious,” attending to Beryl after a night shift at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, where he works.
“I worked last night, but I’m still here, ready to go,” said Dr. Dixon. “You can’t sleep much because you’re on edge.”
He expected to fly to Jamaica early next week with several other volunteers. Dr Dixon said standing water could cause major health problems in the storm’s wake, providing a breeding ground for mosquitoes and leading to contaminated drinking water.
As soon as he woke up Wednesday morning, Mr. Poursu said he began reaching out to leaders in New York’s Caribbean community to begin organizing a relief effort. His biggest hurdle, he said, was finding a meeting space big enough to accommodate the 400 or 500 people he expected to show up.
“We are a people who always respond to the needs of our families and friends back home,” Mr Pursoo said. “Whenever there are natural disasters, we’re quite responsive in giving what we can.”
