Hurricane Beryl brings ‘life-threatening winds and dangerous storm surge’ to southeastern Caribbean
Hurricane Beryl made landfall on Grenada’s Carriacou Island as a Category 4 storm Monday morning as it continued its path into the Caribbean that could bring its center close to Jamaica, forecasters said.
The hurricane had 150 mph winds when its eye made landfall on Carriacou, part of the Windward Islands, at 11:10 a.m., the National Hurricane Center said. People on Grenada, the Grenadine Islands, and Carriacou Island were warned to stay in their shelters.
There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries. The Associated Press reported that communications were down.
Photos shared online by Ralph Gonsalves, prime minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, showed homes and buildings that were destroyed and damaged.
“We have begun to receive heartbreaking reports out of Union Island and the Southern Grenadines,” he said on Facebook.
Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchel said there had been reports of “extensive storm surge,” damage to buildings and loss of electricity.
“And there is the likelihood of even greater damage,” Mitchell said.
Jamaica was under a hurricane watch. The storm was forecast to pass near the island Wednesday.
“I am encouraging all Jamaicans to take the hurricane as a serious threat,” Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness said Monday.
He encouraged people to move to higher and safer ground, and warned that emergency services will not be able to able to operate during the peak of hurricane conditions.
Other areas of the Caribbean, including the southern coast of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, were under tropical storm warnings.
Beryl is the first Category 4 hurricane on record to form in June. It is also the earliest Category 4 storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, beating the record of Hurricane Dennis, which formed July 8, 2005.
Videos shared by UNICEF Eastern Caribbean show storm surge on Barbados’ south coast and strong winds in St. Lucia. The U.S. Embassy in Barbados reported power outages and flooding in some areas.
Beryl had been gaining strength last week, intensifying from a tropical depression to a Category 3 hurricane in 42 hours. It became a Category 4 hurricane in 48 hours. According to ClimateCentral.org, hurricanes get stronger at a faster rate because of warm waters brought on by climate change.
Beryl will continue moving westward, across the southeastern and central Caribbean Sea, at least until Wednesday, the agency added.
“Potentially catastrophic wind damage is expected where the core of Beryl moves,” it said.
The center of Beryl was “beginning to pull away pretty quickly here from the Windward Islands,” National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said in an update at around 5 p.m. Monday.
Rain was still falling in the Windward Islands, with total rainfall amounts of 10 inches in some places, Brennan said.
“One small piece of good news is that the atmospheric environment is expected to become less favorable for Beryl to maintain this very high intensity as we go through the week, but system is expected to remain a major hurricane through Tuesday night or Wednesday morning and maintain hurricane strength all the way until it gets to the Yucatan Peninsula on late Thursday or Thursday night or early Friday,” Brennan said.
The storm was around 125 miles northwest of Grenada at around 5 p.m., the National Hurricane Center said. It was moving west-northwest at 21 mph.
Beryl became an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm as it approached the Islands early Sunday before it leveled off slightly.
In Barbados, officials began opening emergency shelters Sunday evening, ordering the closure of all businesses by 7 p.m. The water authority also urged people to store potable water, as water lines would be shut as a precaution.
Thousands of people descended upon the Caribbean island to watch the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup final over the weekend. But the worsening weather meant many, including the triumphant India team, had not been able to leave.
In the Barbadian capital of Bridgetown, Vichelle Clark King surveyed her damaged shop, which was filled with sand and water after the storm passed Monday.
“Right now, I’m real heartbroken,” she told the AP.
The hurricane is likely to be in the Caribbean Sea for the rest of the week before it makes landfall on the Yucatán Peninsula as a Category 2 storm. It is expected to weaken to a tropical storm as it moves into the southwestern Gulf of Mexico.
