UK announces £500k support package for Hurricane Beryl victims after storm hits Caribbean
6 July 2024, 06:05
The UK has announced a £500k support package for Hurricane Beryl victims after the storm hit the Caribbean.
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Newly-appointed Foreign Secretary David Lammy increased support up to £500,000 to help those whose homes and livelihoods have been impacted.
Hurricane Beryl was the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record to form in the Atlantic.
The aid package includes 800 emergency shelter kits, which have been dispatched to Granada and St Vincent and the Grenadines to support up to 4,000 people.
The Foreign Office also confirmed that 1,620 buckets for households to collect and store water have been sent from supplies pre-positioned in the region as part of the UK's preparedness plans.
Newly-appointed Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: "Our thoughts remain with those who have lost loved ones, their homes or have been left without power.
"This funding will help support disaster recovery efforts, as part of a swift and co-ordinated response in the region.
"That such a storm has developed so early in the season shows that we are facing a climate emergency and must act now."
Additional support has also been provided for the deployment of regional teams to assist the national disaster offices with emergency operations, relief and logistics management, telecommunication, security issues and sectoral assessments.
Meanwhile, Royal Navy patrol ship HMS Trent has arrived in the Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory, to provide assistance to communities affected by the hurricane.
The Foreign Office confirmed two specialist Rapid Deployment Teams have travelled to the region to provide consular assistance to any affected British nationals, along with a procurement and logistics specialist who will assist with the humanitarian effort.
