“The Real Rebuilding Is Rebuilding People’s Lives”: Beryl Left a Carriacou Church With Only a Sanctuary Wall

• Hurricane Beryl destroyed Our Lady of the Rosary Church in L’Esterre, Carriacou
• St Patrick’s in Hillsborough lost its roof, and a Petite Martinique church was damaged
• Grenada’s bishop toured the island 11 days after the storm
• He said rebuilding lives mattered as much as rebuilding buildings

When Bishop Clyde Harvey of St George’s in Grenada reached Carriacou on July 12, 2024, 11 days after Hurricane Beryl struck as a Category 4 storm, he found parts of his diocese in ruins. OSV News, in a report carried by the National Catholic Reporter, said Our Lady of the Rosary Church in L’Esterre had been destroyed, with only a sanctuary wall still standing, and would have to be rebuilt from scratch.

The damage went further. The Church of St Patrick in Hillsborough lost its roof and needed a structural assessment, and a third church on Petite Martinique suffered roof and structural damage. A government school on Carriacou was completely destroyed. Across the Caribbean, at least 33 people died, and in neighbouring St Vincent and the Grenadines about 3,500 households were affected, with around 10,000 people suffering significant damage to their homes.

Relief groups including Catholic Relief Services, Caritas Antilles and the Youth Emergency Action Committee moved in, and Catholic schools and churches were being used as shelters. Counsellors from the Franciscan Institute in the Caribbean began offering mental health support. Bishop Harvey said the long-term needs of the elderly, small farmers and small business owners worried him.

He was clear that bricks and roofing were only part of the task. “One of the major challenges now is how do we help with the rebuilding program but also with rebuilding lives — the real rebuilding is rebuilding people’s lives,” he said. He also pointed to the strain on church finances beyond the buildings themselves: “I have a tremendous challenge with Catholic schools (in terms of funding).”

Beryl also struck Jamaica that same week, leaving a historic St Elizabeth church in ruins, and Hurricane Melissa hit harder in 2025. The Carriacou experience shows how a single storm can leave a small diocese facing several rebuilds at once, alongside schools and shelters it is expected to run. For Jamaican churches, insurance, reserve funds and a clear plan for which buildings to restore first are part of stewardship, and diaspora congregations can help most by backing those plans before the next season.

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