Hurricane Beryl was downgraded from a category three to a category two storm after barreled its way through several Caribbean islands, including the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, on its way towards Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Beryl, which was the earliest category five hurricane in the Atlantic, now had winds of 115 mph (185 kph) after weakening earlier Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
One of the people thanking their lucky stars is actress Sheryl Lee Ralph, who weathered the storm from her home in Kingston, Jamaica.
In the region for her son, Etienne Maurice’s wedding to ABC News journalist Stephanie Wash, the Abbott Elementary star took to X (formerly Twitter) to reveal she’s okay and that her home and area appears to have gotten through the storm without too much damage.
‘Thank you to everybody for your good vibes and your prayers,’ she began in a clip on Wednesday night, not long after the storm had moved on.
Sheryl Lee Ralph, 67, confirmed she’s okay and her home in Kingston, Jamaica had weathered the storm that was Hurricane Beryl, but the actress is asking for ‘good vibes’ from people for those who weren’t as lucky as she and her neighbors
After pausing momentarily to listen to the noises of nature coming from outside her home, Ralph said ‘that is the sound of the return of peace. We don’t have any lights. There is no power, but we have life. Thank you all for understanding,’ she said with obvious emotion to her voice.
‘Kingston is on the south coast. We got scrubbed by the eye of Beryl, but she is on her way off somewhere else, and we are thanking God the north coast, where Montego Bay is has been spared a bit,’ she added. ‘They are cleaning it up and get ready to welcome tourists back with open hearts.’
It’s at this point that she felt joyous enough to break out into the chorus of the classic Bob Marley song One Love.
‘So, One love / One heart / Let’s join together and I’ll feel alright,’ she sang. ‘Don’t worry about a thing / Everything is going to be alright
The actress concluded, ‘Oh thank God. I’m praying for sunshine on Saturday for the wedding.’
The following night, on Thursday, Ralph took back to her X page to give an update to the situation in Kingston, Jamaica.
‘Hey everybody, it’s another night after the storm and I’m just so grateful and happy for what we’ve been able to able to come through safely,’ she said while looking straight towards her camera.
‘And as I was thinking of all the preparations we’re trying to make for the wedding as people are being canceled off their flights and such, I’m thinking of love, family, and connection because I just heard that a family friend in St. Vincent lost everything.
in Jamaica for her son, Etienne Maurice’s wedding to ABC News journalist Stephanie Wash, the Abbott Elementary star thanked ‘everybody for your good vibes and your prayers’
After pausing momentarily to listen to the sounds of nature coming from outside her home, Ralph said ‘that is the sound of the return of peace. We don’t have any lights. There is no power, but we have life. Thank you all for understanding,’ she said with obvious emotion to her voice
It turns out her friend lost everything, including their their home and their business.
She believes it will take ‘six months to a year’ until the St. Vincent Island can get up and running again.
She captioned the X post: ‘People you don’t know are standing in the need of your prayers and good vibes right now. St. Vincent and The Grenadines are struggling!’
‘Hey everybody, it’s another night after the storm and I’m just so grateful and happy for what we’ve been able to able to come through safely,’ Ralph said in an update on Thursday night
‘And as I was thinking of all the preparations we’re trying to make for the wedding as people are being canceled off their flights and such, I’m thinking of love, family, and connection because I just heard that a family friend in St. Vincent lost everything,’ the actress shared on X
Ralph has starred on the ABC mockumentary sitcom during its three season run to date
‘So when people tell you, “Hey it could be worse” well hell yea, it could get worse; so much worse,’ she declared, before adding, ‘So I continue to thank you all for your good vibes. And I continue to ask you to pray for others as you would for yourself. Just put something positive out into the world because there are people who need it.
While Ralph said she was feeling thankful after the events of Hurricane Beryl, she called on her followers to keep Carriacou in their thoughts, as the island in Grenada was previously hit with the storm’s 150 mph winds, according to TMZ.
Beryl has reportedly caused 22 deaths, with the storm’s route targeting Mexico and Texas next.
CNN is reporting that the storm is expected to unload damaging winds, torrential rainfall and dangerous storm surge over a significant portion of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, a popular tourist area, as it makes landfall into Friday morning.
