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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Editorial

The Guardian view on Hurricane Beryl: the west can’t sit this out

Damaged houses and buildings along the coast of the island of Carriacou, Grenada, in the wake of Hurricane Beryl.
Damaged houses and buildings along the coast of the island of Carriacou, Grenada, in the wake of Hurricane Beryl. Photograph: Arthur Daniel/Reuters

The islands that have been hardest hit by Hurricane Beryl will take years to recover. Nine out of 10 homes on Union, which is part of St Vincent and the Grenadines in the eastern Caribbean, were damaged or destroyed on Monday. On Carriacou, which is part of Grenada, hardly any buildings were left unscathed. On Tuesday, the Grenadian prime minister, Dickon Mitchell, described the situation as “almost Armageddon-like”.

The course taken by Beryl meant that Jamaica, which is home to nearly 3 million people, did not receive its full force as had been feared. But houses and roads were flooded, and a woman was killed, taking the overall death toll to at least 10. Barbados and other islands were also damaged.

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