Cornish aid team arrives to find trail of destruction left by Hurricane Beryl

A team from the Cornwall-based aid charity Shelterbox has arrived in the Caribbean to respond to people left homeless by Hurricane Beryl.

The hurricane has caused widespread damage and made records for all the wrong reasons, becoming the strongest in history to form in the Atlantic Ocean in June.

It first made landfall in St Vincents and the Grenadines, and Grenada, before moving along the southern coast of Jamaica, the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, and on towards Texas.

Shelterbox's emergency response manager, Dave Raybould said: “There is a huge amount of destruction across a very wide area. There are a lot of different places where people need help.

"That means the humanitarian response will span nations and borders. That isn’t easy, especially when airstrips and ports are damaged, and there is no power in some places.

“Logistically, it’s going to be very challenging, but we have worked in the region before and have a pretty good idea of what we’re facing.”

Winds of up to 150mph hit several island nations, blowing roofs off houses, uprooting trees, and bringing down power lines.

The damage is extensive with almost all homes on some islands destroyed, leaving people unable to return home.

As well as houses, roads and crops have been destroyed making it harder for people to access food, water, and shelter.

Mr Raybould said: “We’re seeing tropical storms getting more powerful, hitting the same places more often, and lasting longer.

“Extreme weather is common in the Caribbean and while people are prepared, they often don’t have time to recover from one emergency before the next arrives. 

“It is always those who are poorest and most vulnerable, living in homes that are less well built, that face the brunt of a disaster and it’s no different with Hurricane Beryl.”

Shelterbox, which is based in Truro, Cornwall, said with the climate crisis bringing rising sea levels and more severe storms they are having to change the way they work to meet a growing demand for help. They are also having to adapt their aid and scale up responses.