GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands (CMC) — The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance facility (CCRIF) said Wednesday it will pay US$44 million to Grenada as a result of the damage and destruction caused by the passage of Hurricane Beryl last Monday.

It will be the single-largest payout by CCRIF, a segregated portfolio company, owned, operated, and registered in the Caribbean.

The Category 4 storm left a trail of death and damage as it made its way through the Windward Islands on July 1, with the Grenadine islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique and St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Union island severely impacted.

CCRIF said that payout to Grenada will be made this week, adding that Hurricane Beryl totally devastated 90 per cent of all buildings on the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique.

It said that there was also significant damage to the agriculture sector as well as the natural environment, including mangrove ecosystems. Electric utilities, mainly the transmission and distribution systems on both islands, also were significantly damaged.

The north of mainland Grenada was also not spared the wrath of Hurricane Beryl, with damage to houses, the agriculture and forestry sectors, and electric utility transmission and distribution, and water distribution systems.

In extending its “deepest condolences” to the Government and people of Grenada, CCRIF said it is well aware of the impacts on other CCRIF member countries in the region, including St Vincent and the Grenadines and Jamaica.

CCRIF said that its parametric insurance policies make payments based on the intensity of an event and the amount of loss calculated in a pre-agreed model caused by these events.

It said the payout to Grenada on its tropical cyclone policy is the single largest payout by CCRIF. Until now, Haiti had the single largest payout from CCRIF, having received just under US$40 million, following the 2021 earthquake.

“These payouts represent Grenada’s first payouts from CCRIF. I commend the Government of Grenada, which has always maintained that despite not receiving a payout, it understood the importance of financially protecting the economy in case a disaster strikes, as it would never want to see a repeat of Hurricane Ivan,” said CCRIF Chief Executive Officer Isaac Anthony.

“Countries ought to treat parametric insurance for natural hazards like they treat health insurance. We buy health insurance because it is important to help safeguard our lives. However, we hope we do not need it but when we do, we have the peace of mind that it could help us deal with a more serious illness than a common cold.

“Similarly, we do not want to be negatively impacted by natural hazards and be faced with natural disasters. However, in the case of CCRIF’s parametric insurance, the moment we really need it, it is available within 14 days of a triggering event.”

Anthony said CCRIF’s parametric insurance must be seen as a key component in helping countries to build back better and stronger to withstand future natural hazards, especially within the context of climate change”.

CCRIF said that Hurricane Beryl is reminiscent of Hurricane Ivan 20 years ago, which impacted nine Caribbean islands.