Texas man organizing hurricane aid in aftermath of Beryl

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Hurricane Beryl’s path to Texas caused destruction on parts of the Caribbean. To help clean up the debris and devastation left by Beryl, an Austin native has organized efforts to help locals on the Caribbean island of Grenada.

Daniel Perry is currently a medical student at St. George’s University on the island of Grenada, previously attending Vista Ridge High school in the Austin area. After Beryl hit Grenada, Perry felted inclined to help out.

“I came across the Grenada Red Cross Society, and I signed up to be a volunteer,” Perry said. “I was like alright — I’m going to see if I can get some student volunteers.”

Perry said he initially expected five to six students to join him but ended up getting over 50 medical students to provide disaster relief.

“It’s an incredible group of people,” Perry said. “They were not comfortable being stationary after Beryl.”

When Beryl hit the island, it reportedly killed three people, according to the Associated Press. Perry said the weather Beryl brought was nothing he had ever seen before.

“We went into full lockdown on the island,” Perry said. “It was kind of surreal. You (saw) sideways rain and wind. It was the most rain I’ve ever seen — the most wind I’ve ever seen.”

As hurricane season is far from over, Perry says there is still a lot to be done to be ready for the next cycle of intense weather.

“The mission now is to continue hurricane proofing these parts of the island that got it worse,” Perry said. “Having these backup places, backup generators, backup water supplies — things like that — so we can be ahead of the curve.”

Hurricane Beryl made landfall on Texas’ Gulf coast early Monday morning.