Homes destroyed by Hurricane Beryl lie in Clifton, Union Island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Thursday, July 4, 2024. A fisherman looks at fishing vessels damaged by Hurricane Beryl at the Bridgetown Fisheries in Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. Palm trees wilt after being uprooted by Hurricane Beryl in St. Patrick, Grenada, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Homes destroyed by Hurricane Beryl lie in Clifton, Union Island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Thursday, July 4, 2024.
She and others noted that small Caribbean islands often have rickety infrastructure and fragile economies dependent on tourism and fishing. The resolution also requested that financial and development institutions release funds to small nations affected by disasters on a concessionary basis, “free from onerous conditions,” and to “cancel, defer or reschedule debt repayments.”
“Nations like my own have had to go at it alone,” he said, noting that Hurricane Dorian pummeled the Bahamas in 2019 for two days as a Category 5 storm. “Lives are at stake.”