DORAL, FLA. (WSVN) - Days after Hurricane Beryl battered Jamaica, a South Florida organization is lending a hand to storm survivors.
Michael Capponi and volunteers from the Global Empowerment Mission are helping residents in Jamaica following the aftermath of the storm.
Volunteers at GEM on Wednesday packed up supplies to send much-needed relief to the island.
In a video shared by GEM, downed power lines and trees show the path of Beryl’s destruction in Jamaica.
“This was a beach. It’s gone, the walls,” said a person on the video.
Throughout the island, homes were destroyed, and hundreds remain without power after they experienced what they described as pure terror.
Residents describing their experience to Capponi.
“I was here during the hurricane. Very, very bad. Much of the college is destroyed,” said a man on video.
“My granddaughter started to cry and said ‘Grandma, the whole house is going to go, and we are going to die,'” said a woman. “And we hear this ‘woof, woof.’”
In one video, a woman’s roof is seen shaking as the powerful winds blow against it. In the aftermath, her home is far from what it used to be.
“We are grateful,” she told Capponi.
Within 48 hours of the hurricane making landfall, GEM distributed thousands of relief items in Jamaica’s hardest-hit areas, including Kingston and the devastated towns around it.
“Just with a smile and a hug,” said Capponi.
Once aid arrived, Jamaicans began distributing it amongst themselves.
“And it almost creates, you know, a little bit of jobs. You give them a little bit of day-rate money, ” said Capponi.
The island is coming together to rebuild after the devastating storm.
Capponi said some areas have gotten a head start on the construction.
“Already starting to put temporary roofs,” said Capponi.
But he said it will take nearly a month before many on the island regain electricity.
“We invested in a 50-kilowatt generator, and that is going to power the entire water station of Treasure Beach to put water back, because right now there is no water,” said Capponi. “And one of the great things is, as soon as we bought our first generator and got it working at this little cook shop, a little local cook shop, within three hours, they were cooking for the community.”
To help residents rebuild, click here to donate.
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