Reports from staff members indicated that the Palm Island resort has been completely destroyed by the fury of Hurricane Beryl, which battered St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Monday.
19 staff members who had to battle with the 140-mph winds huddled together in a concrete room that housed a generator.
Ackeem Romeo, a staff member who holds the position of chef, told the St Vincent Times that no guests were on the island when Beryl slammed into the Southern Grenadines resort.
“There were 19 of us; the manager sent home the guests, but we didn’t get the same.”
“We stayed in a house up on a hill, in a concreate generator room (all 19), and that also collapsed piece by piece with us inside. we had to battle the wind while trying not to get blown off the cliff where parts of the house stood.”
Romeo told the St Vincent Times they all made it alive and are all now back on the mainland, St. Vincent. He said only two of the Guests Houses remain standing.
Palm Island, which is one mile from Union Island, is only accessible by boat, has an area of 135 acres, and has five beaches.
The island was originally known as Prune Island. Americans John and Mary Caldwell leased the island for 99 years from the St Vincent and the Grenadines government in 1966. The Caldwells planted coconut palms to reclaim the land, a practice John had learned from previous projects.
In 1999, the hotel was purchased by British hotelier James Lane and his then partner, Caribbean hospitality legend Sir Rob Barrett of Antigua.
James Lane, Jr. now owns the resort, and he and his team of highly accomplished Caribbean hospitality experts manage it.
