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STORY: UN / HURRICANE BERYL IMPACT
TRT: 02:05
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 05 JULY 2024, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior UN Headquarters
05 JULY 2024, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, press room dais
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Simon Springett, Resident Coordinator for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, United Nations:
“I don't mean to sound overdramatic or stark, but the islands were really dramatically catastrophically hit. So, the desalination plants have been knocked out. All of the cell towers have been knocked out. All of the fibre optic cables have been knocked out. The roads are impassable. We probably have about 95 percent of the housing stock destroyed. So, really, and that means by default all local businesses, all the income generating activities, and the list goes on.”
4. Med shot, journalist
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Simon Springett, Resident Coordinator for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, United Nations:
“For tourism, clearly this is going to be a major, major impact, particularly on those smaller islands, in the Grenadines and in the north of Grenada. Fortunately, major infrastructure such as airports and ports weren’t hugely damaged, and hopefully tourists won't give up on visiting these lovely islands.”
6. Wide shot, press room dais
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Dennis Zulu, Resident Coordinator for Jamaica, United Nations:
“The government response has been activated and the UN stands ready to assist drawing from experiences obviously, with other eastern Caribbean islands with Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas some years ago. The UN has activated its emergency task team, co-chaired by UNICEF and WFP in Jamaica, and this team has been advising for UN country team and the default needs of the government in areas such as protection, WASH, which is water sanitation and hygiene, education, shelters, logistics and health, nutrition and of course, early recovery, food security and telecommunications.”
8. Med shot, journalist
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Dennis Zulu, Resident Coordinator for Jamaica, United Nations:
“The cost of the disaster still left behind really has not fully being articulated. As I see the government is ongoing with its assessment, but the damage is widely apparent and is felt by persons from all walks of life, especially in rural Jamaica, including the southern parishes of Clarendon, Manchester and St. Elizabeth and those in vulnerable housing.”
10. Wide shot, end of presser
The United Nations Resident Coordinator for the Eastern Caribbean, Simon Springett, today (5 Jul) told journalist in New York that the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada, “were really dramatically catastrophically hit” by Hurricane Beryl, and said, “hopefully tourists won't give up on visiting these lovely islands.”
Springett said, “desalination plants have been knocked out. All of the cell towers have been knocked out. All of the fibre optic cables have been knocked out. The roads are impassable. We probably have about 95 percent of the housing stock destroyed. So, really, and that means by default all local businesses, all the income generating activities, and the list goes on.”
He said, “for tourism, clearly this is going to be a major, major impact, particularly on those smaller islands, in the Grenadines and in the north of Grenada,” adding that “fortunately, major infrastructure such as airports and ports weren’t hugely damaged.”
For his part, the Resident Coordinator for Jamaica, Dennis Zulu, said, “the government response has been activated and the UN stands ready to assist drawing from experiences.”
The UN, Zulu said, “has activated its emergency task team, co-chaired by UNICEF and WFP in Jamaica, and this team has been advising for UN country team and the default needs of the government in areas such as protection, WASH, which is water sanitation and hygiene, education, shelters, logistics and health, nutrition and of course, early recovery, food security and telecommunications.”
The cost of the disaster, he said, “has not fully being articulated” but noted that “the damage is widely apparent and is felt by persons from all walks of life, especially in rural Jamaica, including the southern parishes of Clarendon, Manchester and St. Elizabeth and those in vulnerable housing.”
Secretary-General has reiterated his solidarity with countries affected by Hurricane Beryl, releasing $4 million from the Organization’s emergency response fund to kickstart relief efforts.
Hurricane Beryl, the strongest hurricane in history to form in June in the Atlantic Ocean, wreaked havoc as it swept through Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Jamaica.
Initially a tropical depression, Beryl rapidly intensified into a Category 4 hurricane and briefly reached Category 5 status, with winds up to 240 km/h (150 mph).
