Hurricane Beryl Devastation in Jamaica "St Elizabeth"

On Tuesday July 2nd 2024, Hurricane Beryl made landfall on Jamaica and was particularly savage to the Parish of St Elizabeth, primarily a hard working farming community dubbed the ‘Breadbasket’ of Jamaica. Beryl became the earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane, with winds of up to 165mph. Several people have died because of the hurricane and hundreds more homes and businesses destroyed.

As you can imagine the community is pulling together to rebuild. However, not all Jamaicans are fortunate enough to have steady incomes and the burden on those who have is great. With no electricity, phonelines, gas and vehicle fuel running low with no immediate relief in sight, what resources the community can pool together will soon run low.

We have a lot of friends and family in the area and our young 16 year old son Elijah King travelled alone for the first time to see his Grandfather, 5 days before disaster struck.

His time in Jamaica is now vastly different to what he was expecting but he is doing what he can with his 70 year old Grandfather to help those less fortunate.

We haven't been able to make contact with anyone in the Parish since 3rd July, due to the lines all being down, 65% of homes are without energy.

In times like these, every bit of support counts. If you would like to contribute to the relief efforts and help the devastated community in Jamaica, you can visit the GoFundMe page that has been set up specifically for this purpose. Your contribution will go a long way in providing much-needed resources and assistance to those who have been affected by the hurricane.

If you can help, no matter how small. Thanks for reading.