PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia’s Caribbean community is banding together to provide relief and resources to their home islands hit by Hurricane Beryl this past week.
On Monday, Beryl strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane, ripping doors, windows and roofs off homes across the southeastern Caribbean. It caused at least 11 deaths.
By Tuesday morning, it intensified to 165 mph winds.
Kimisha Simpson, founder of Ignite Jamaica Fund, says her family back on the island has never seen a storm like Beryl.
“Typically, hurricanes have passed through, tropical storms, but they’ve never experienced it to this degree,” she said.
The last strong hurricane to hit the southeast Caribbean was Hurricane Ivan 20 years ago, which killed dozens of people in Grenada.
Simpson says her family is without power and cell service and likely won’t get it back for another week or two.
Careda Matthews, who runs Careda’s Caribbean Cuisine in Reading Terminal, says her family’s only mode of contact is social media.
“My family reached out to us on WhatsApp and Messenger because phone lines are jammed. So that’s how we communicated through the storm,” Matthews said.
Matthews, Simpson and other local Caribbean organizations are gathering resources including nonperishable foods and hygiene products to help people navigate the aftermath.
“Any of the tangible items that we receive through our drop-off sites, we will ship them directly to Jamaica,” Simpson said. “We have people on the ground distributing them to those communities.”
While Simpson has family in Jamaica, she says they aren’t forgetting Grenada and other islands affected.
“Our organization will make sure that we share resources and that we also give a portion of our proceeds to them,” she said. “Our focus is Jamaica but we are one Caribbean and we’re Caribbean strong.”
Matthews echoed that sentiment, saying they sympathize with their neighbors.
To donate, visit ignitechangeja.com.
Beryl hit Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula as a Category 2 hurricane on Friday, then weakened to a tropical storm. It's expected to reach southern Texas by Sunday night or Monday morning, regaining hurricane status as it crosses over the toasty Gulf of Mexico.