Grenada estimates damages from Hurricane Beryl at up to a third of economy

Grenada estimates damages from Hurricane Beryl at up to a third of economy

Grenadian Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said on Tuesday that early estimates suggest that losses from deadly Hurricane Beryl, which hit the Caribbean earlier this month, likely total as much as a third of economic output.

The small Caribbean island nation had a gross domestic product (GDP) of about $1.3 billion last year, according to World Bank data. In 2004, Hurricane Ivan caused Grenada to suffer losses that doubled its GDP.

Mitchell cautioned that the estimate was still preliminary, and that besides devastating homes and farms, Beryl had wrought destruction on electricity grids, mangrove forests, water infrastructure and the fishing sector.