Premier on Beryl devastation: ‘We are going to lend a helping hand’

Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly has vowed to help fellow Caribbean nations that have been devastated by Hurricane Beryl.

She made the remarks at a joint service of thanksgiving after Cayman emerged relatively unscathed from the passing of the hurricane.

“For the government, certainly, the proposition that I will be putting forward, we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, and we’re going to lend out a helping hand to those who are hurting in Eastern Caribbean and Jamaica. I already spoke to CUC and they are ready to … send linesmen there,” she told those gathered Sunday at the First Baptist Church on Crewe Road.

“Our God has never failed us,” the premier said. “Our God [has] delivered again. He has done it before … [and] He is still the master of the seas.”

O’Connor-Connolly warned that this is just the beginning of hurricane season.

“We have been through Ivan, Allen, Paloma, we know what it is, and I want to thank you on behalf of the government for listening, cooperating, to being as prepared as we could be,” she said.

‘Good Samaritans’

While largely sparing Cayman, Hurricane Beryl, the earliest Category 5 storm on record, wreaked havoc in the eastern Caribbean and Jamaica.

“Fortunately for us, God came through for us in a special way, not because we are more special … He had a purpose,” O’Connor-Connolly said.

“Ask yourself, ‘what is the purpose?’ Why we’re not suffering as our brothers and sisters in Grenada, Barbados, St. Vincent, Jamaica … Use that purpose.”

Recalling aid that Cayman received previously, the premier said, “We are the country of the good Samaritans. God has blessed us abundantly … We’re ready to meet the gigantic task of rendering help to the Caribbean and staying in a state of preparedness …”

O’Connor-Connolly encouraged attendees to “keep praying”.

The service also included prayers from several pastors of the Cayman Ministers’ Association – for protection during the rest of the hurricane season, for the leaders of government, and for those who have been impacted by the hurricane.