After surviving the night as Hurricane Beryl ravaged Union Island with ferocious force, Katrina Coy was stunned by the devastation she witnessed.

“Union Island is in a terrible state after Beryl passed. Literally, almost the whole island is homeless,” Coy said in a video message. She described how nearly every building on the island, part of St Vincent and the Grenadines, was either destroyed or severely damaged. “There are hardly any buildings left standing. Houses are flattened, roads are blocked, and electricity poles are down in the streets.”

Fisherman and fishing guide Sebastien Sailly echoed Coy’s sentiments. “Everything is lost. I have nowhere to live right now,” he said. A resident of Union Island since 1985, Sailly lived through Hurricane Ivan in 2004, but he noted that Hurricane Beryl was on another level. “It’s like a tornado has passed through here. Ninety percent of the island—easily 90%—has been erased.”

The shock and fear were evident in his voice as he recounted his experience. “I was sheltering with my wife and daughter, and to tell you the truth, I wasn’t sure we would make it out at all.”

His cousin, Alizee, who runs a hotel with her family, described a horrific ordeal as Beryl passed over their town. She recounted how they had to push furniture against the doors and windows to prevent the sustained winds and powerful gusts from blowing them open.

“The pressure was so intense that you felt it in your ears. We could hear the roof coming apart and smashing into another building. Windows breaking, flooding,” recounted Sebastien Sailly. “No one knew it would be this bad; everyone is traumatized.”

Sebastien, an organic farmer, beekeeper, and fisherman, reported that his two farms and beehives have been completely destroyed. Despite this, he emphasized that the community’s immediate priority is shelter. People are attempting to gather wood and plastic sheeting to create temporary accommodations for their families.

“Finding water and food is going to be tough,” he added.

Alizee Sailly noted that many other supplies are urgently needed on Union Island, including tinned foods, powdered milk, sanitary products, first-aid kits, and tents.