"I think Jamaica was spared the worst," prime minister tells CNN

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness told CNN in an interview on Thursday that while the country is still in “assessment mode” after being struck by Hurricane Beryl, the damage was not as bad as had been feared. 

“The damage was not what we had expected and so we’re very grateful for that,” Holness said to CNN’s Max Foster. 

“But there was damage, nonetheless. We had a damage to some coastal infrastructure in southern parishes. We had damage to agriculture and housing in two parishes, Manchester, and St. Elisabeth. We have had some roads cut off a lot. But outside of that, I think Jamaica was spared the worst,” he added.

Holness also said there had been two deaths registered due to the storm, raising the death toll in the country by one. He said roughly 1000 people remained in shelters, that telecommunications were about 70% operational and that electricity that had gone done in “some areas” was being restored. 

“We are now into recovery phase so we are doing our assessments. Another two or three hours we’ll be able to give a full assessment as to what the damage is,” he said.

The prime minister also told CNN two deaths had been registered in the country due to Hurricane Beryl, bringing the total death toll due to the storm to at least nine.