On July 1, 2024, Hurricane Beryl began its assault on the Caribbean. The eastern Caribbean islands got the brunt. Grenada, St. Vincent, Carriacou and Union Island, Petite Martinique were devastated.
Dominica got hit, especially at the north end of the island. Floods,
landslides, road washouts, downed trees and raging seas damaged the whole west
coast. The road to the Cabrits is impassible, Scott’s Head became an island.
My little bit of Dominica was ruined, washed away by huge,
pounding waves coming over the seawall all night long. The seawater came right
up to the deck and all the plants, shrubs, young mango, lime and lemon that
were around it became a salt-poisoned wasteland. The smashing waves brought down part of the
fence. I had a 30-foot heavily laden avocado tree in the yard, and even now 10
days later, the fruit is falling, the leaves are wilting and turning brown and
falling. My little poinsettia forest is gone.
What is there now is sand and stone - not even a decent piece of driftwood.
I will never plant in that area again. I have learned a valuable lesson. It is the littoral zone and I will respect
that and treat it as such. The house is
high and dry. I had some big plants in
pots at the side, away from the sea blast, they were not affected.
Then I got a terrible flu and have been sick for 4 days. Much better now, but daunted by the clean-up work in the former garden.
The already cash-poor Caribbean will take a long long time to recover
