July 14, 2024 - Week 25

All the plants including the corn, lettuce, and string beans survived! Only the two green banana/plantain trees were hurled down by Beryl. We are so thankful the school is intact without major damages - just some leaks.

Unfortunately, some of the students are still without power and wata at the time of writing. They live in the Clarendon/Manchester regions where it was hardest hit, along with St Elizabeth. People have to pay those with generators to charge their mobile phones. The lack of power and wata has meant curfews are being implemented in certain regions to try and curb crime. Case in point, the newly opened (i.e. in June 2024) Poko Loco floating bar in Ochi, costing USD 1M in investment, was looted after it was swept off its mooring, with an estimated USD 0.5M stolen.

On a more light-hearted angle, people were also interested in whether the houses YouTube sensation MrBeast built for the Jamaicans recently survived Beryl - if anyone knows, please do share!

I also took a trip to the local market to support the farmers and am keenly buying bananas while they last. Prelim assessment shows 80-100% of banana and plantain crops have been damaged, suggesting prices for these golden fruits will start increasing soon. Too bad Jamaica's Catastrophe Bond was not triggered...