Hurricane Beryl hits breadbasket parish of St. Elizabeth like an "atomic bomb"

JAMAICA / BAHAMAS - Report 15 Jul 2024 by Keith Collister

Just under two weeks ago, on Wednesday, July 3, Hurricane Beryl hit Jamaica with strong winds, rain and powerful waves as a Category 4 storm. Beryl had previously made history as the strongest hurricane ever recorded in July, before it was downgraded from Category 5 to Category 4.

While the capital city of Kingston was largely spared, with minimal damage, according to Jamaica's Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Floyd Green, Jamaica’s south coast “farm belt” parishes, Westmoreland, Clarendon, Manchester, and particularly St. Elizabeth, were hard hit in areas such as vegetables and tubers. One agricultural observer described the devastation in the breadbasket parish of St. Elizabeth as like an “atomic bomb”. This is particularly concerning as this parish grows roughly 70% of certain key agricultural crops—yams, onions, sweet peppers and others.

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