A development insurance company capitalised in part by the Bermuda Government has made payouts to four Caribbean islands impacted by Hurricane Beryl, a Category 5 storm that swept across the region earlier this month.

A payout of $55.6 million was made by the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility in Grenada, including $44 million to the Government and lesser amounts to the electrical facility ($9.3 million) and water utility ($2.2 million).

Payouts were also made to Jamaica, $26.6 million; St Vincent & the Grenadines, $1.86 million; and Trinidad & Tobago, $429,000.

The CCRIF has 30 members, including Bermuda.

Isaac Anthony, chief executive of CCRIF, and members of the organisation met with Dickon Mitchell, Prime Minister of Grenada and the island’s finance minister, Dennis Cornwall, and other key officials to present the payouts.

Mr Mitchell said: “While these funds may not cover all rebuilding costs, they will enable us to begin the journey of restoration of our homes, our communities and our nation."

A spokesman for the development insurer said: “This is exactly what CCRIF was set up to do — to fill the liquidity gap and provide an injection of liquidity following a natural disaster to allow members to begin recovery efforts.”

All payouts are made within 14 days of the event to allow countries and sectors to begin recovery efforts.

Members of CCRIF include 19 Caribbean governments, four Central American governments, three electric utilities, three water utilities and one tourist attraction.

CCRIF SPC is a segregated portfolio company, owned, operated and registered in the Caribbean.

It was developed under the technical leadership of the World Bank and with a grant from the Government of Japan.

It was capitalised through contributions to a multi-donor trust fund by the government of Canada, the European Union, the World Bank, the governments of Britain and France, the Caribbean Development Bank and the governments of Bermuda and Ireland, as well as through membership fees paid by participating governments.