Actress Sheryl Lee Ralph Asks Fans to ‘Pray for Others’ After Hurricane Beryl Hits Jamaica

Sheryl Lee Ralph attends the 3rd Annual Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles on Dec. 3, 2023. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Sheryl Lee Ralph, an Emmy-winning actress and singer who rose to fame in the 1981 Broadway musical “Dreamgirls,” has confirmed that she is safe after Hurricane Beryl ripped through the Caribbean, leaving at least 11 people dead.

“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!” Ms. Ralph, 67, captioned in a video shared on X on July 4.

Hurricane Beryl battered Jamaica with heavy winds and rain as a Category 4 storm on July 3. The storm had reached Category 5 strength earlier this week, attaining 160 mph winds, before making landfall on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on the morning of July 5. The hurricane weakened to a tropical storm as it made its way into the Gulf.

“It’s another night after the storm, and I’m just so grateful and happy for what we have been able to come through safely,” said Ms. Ralph, who is currently in Kingston, Jamaica, for her son Etienne Maurice’s wedding, slated for July 6.

“I just heard that a family friend in St. Vincent lost everything, everything. They lost their home, they lost their business, they lost everything. And it’s going to take them six months to a year for their island to even get up and running again,” she said.

“I continue to thank you all for your good vibes, and I continue to ask you to pray for others as you would pray for yourself and just put something positive out in the world ‘cause there are people who need it.”

On July 3, Ms. Ralph shared an update on her X account shortly after Hurricane Beryl brushed Jamaica’s southern coast, writing that the hurricane had passed the island and was “running like a Jamaican track star off to another race.”

“Thank you all for your good vibes and prayers. We did not get a direct hit and we are grateful but Carriacou needs help,” she wrote.

“We don’t have any lights; there is no power, but we have life,” the “Ray Donovan” actress said in the accompanying video, noting that Kingston, located on the island’s southeastern coast, only got “scrubbed by the eye of Beryl.”

“We are thanking God that the north coast, where Montego Bay is, has been spared a bit. They are cleaning it up and getting ready to welcome tourists back with open arms,” she continued. “Thank God, I’m praying for sunshine on Saturday for the wedding.”

After touring parts of Jamaica that were hit the hardest by the hurricane, the island country’s prime minister, Andrew Holness, issued a statement on X, writing that Jamaica’s government was working with utility companies to get electricity and other public utilities back up and running “as quickly as possible.”

“The next level of service would be to help people who have been displaced; those who can’t live in their homes, and their circumstances are very uncomfortable. We will help them to get back on their feet,” he shared in a statement. “We will craft an emergency response in that regard, and then, we will assist the economic engine of these communities to return to normalcy.”

Celebrities Weather the Storm

Ms. Ralph wasn’t the only celebrity to experience the effects of Hurricane Beryl as it moved along the coast of Jamaica.

Jessel Taank, star of Bravo’s reality show “The Real Housewives of New York City,” is currently on the island for a summer vacation with her family, including her husband, Pavit Randhawa, and their 3-year-old sons, twins Kai and Rio.

However, the 44-year-old reality star took to Instagram on July 4 to share that she and her family were safe following the storm.

“It’s over. Thank you to the incredible staff @halfmoonjamaica for thinking through every detail and making sure we were all safe,” she wrote in a since-expired Instagram story, tagging the Montego Bay luxury resort.

Earlier that day, Mr. Randhawa shared a video of waves lapping the shore of the Jamaican city to his Instagram story, simply writing: “Back to normal.”

The Half Moon resort’s general manager, Shernette Crichton, also issued a statement on Instagram, thanking everyone for their thoughts, prayers, and well wishes. “Just know that we are safe and we are looking forward to having you home soon,” she said, addressing guests who were staying at the resort.

The resort also thanked those who had reached out to offer assistance in the wake of the storm.

“We are so thankful to report our guests and staff are safe thanks to the precautions our team had taken. We are actively cleaning up and already accepting guest arrivals,” the video caption reads. “Our thoughts are with the areas of the island most impacted, and your support means so much to us.”