Philadelphia area residents return home from Jamaica after Hurricane Beryl
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Some Philadelphia area residents are returning home from Jamaica for the first time since Hurricane Beryl hit the Caribbean island on Wednesday. Makeda Redmond says she was staying at a resort in Negril when the Category 4 storm hit. It also happened to be on her birthday.
"It was terrifying," Redmond said. "On top of family from here sending me pictures because they were worried about me but I was scared too."
But Redmond says she was fortunate to be an area that was spared from experiencing significant damage.
The same can't be said for other parts of the country. At least two people died as heavy winds from the hurricane ripped roofs off of homes, knocked trees down and left debris scattered.
"We had a couple big trees go down at the resort," Jim Kimmick said.
Jim and his wife Beth Kimmick were in St. Mary's during the hurricane.
They say they stayed at a resort that was well prepared and was ok during the storm, but describe seeing some damage on the way to the airport.
"We could see trees down everywhere. There was a lot of tree damage down and a lot of wires on the ground," Beth Kimmick said. "I feel like the people of Jamaica will feel it for a while."
The Prime Minister in Jamaica declared the country a disaster zone.
The cleanup continues with parts of the country still without power.