Trees That Feed Foundation
DONATE

Resilience and Recovery after Hurricane Beryl

Thanks to excellent preparation, our partners' hybrid solar dehydrators survived Hurricane Beryl.
Thanks to excellent preparation, our partners’ hybrid solar dehydrators survived Hurricane Beryl.

Hurricane Beryl trampled the Caribbean region a few weeks ago. Category 4 and 5 winds roared through along with torrential rain and heavy storm surge. Fortunately all our friends made it through safely. Property and trees were not so lucky however. Nurseries were damaged, many trees lost their fruit, some trees were downed completely. The good news, recovery is under way. Here’s some of what we know.

Two of our three main nurseries sustained significant damage in Hurricane Beryl.
Two of our three main nurseries sustained significant damage.

Two of our three main tree nurseries in Jamaica were badly damaged by Hurricane Beryl. Our first step is to help them rebuild. Although Trees That Feed can’t handle major disaster relief, we’ve assisted a number of our nurseries, bakeries and entrepreneurs with advance payments. A modest amount of quick cash is very helpful in this situation, and TTFF will be fully repaid with trees and fruit to be delivered in the future.

On the upside, while we did witness the loss of some overgrown breadfruit trees, the ones that were properly pruned demonstrated great resilience. Wind found its way between branches that bent and did not break under the pressure of Hurricane Beryl.

With modern technology the hurricane’s arrival was forecast days in advance. That gave our local entrepreneurs time to protect their hybrid solar dehydrators. They’re obviously too large to move easily but they were protected with tie downs and tarpaulins.

Thank you to the supporters who were spurred by Hurricane Beryl to send in donations. We were especially touched by the notes of encouragement expressing well wishes for our partners.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *