Beryl, the powerful hurricane that devastated the southeastern Caribbean and is now stalking Jamaica

(France24).- Beryl is crossing open waters as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, heading for Jamaica, after making landfall in the southeastern Caribbean, where it caused at least six deaths.

Additionally, a hurricane watch is in effect for Jamaica and a hurricane warning is in effect for the islands of Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Cayman Brac and the entire southern coast of Haiti.

Beryl is expected to begin weakening later Tuesday, but will remain at hurricane strength when it moves across Jamaica on the morning of July 3.

It is expected to pass through the Cayman Islands on July 4 and, a day later, through the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).

On Monday night, Beryl became the earliest Category 5 hurricane in the history of the Atlantic hurricane season, fueled by unusually warm ocean waters, although it was downgraded slightly to Category 4 status.

The center expects Beryl to bring life-threatening winds and storm surge to Jamaica, where officials warned residents in flood-prone areas to prepare to evacuate.

“I encourage all Jamaicans to view the hurricane as a serious threat,” Prime Minister Andrew Holness said in a public address.

Beryl leaves at least six dead in the Caribbean

The cyclone passed about 375 kilometers (235 miles) southeast of Isla Beata in the Dominican Republic on Tuesday.

Beryl had maximum sustained winds of 260 kilometers per hour (160 miles per hour) and was moving west-northwest at 35 km/h (22 mph).

In Miami, NHC Director Michael Brennan said Jamaica appears to be directly in Beryl’s path.

“We are very concerned about Jamaica, where we are forecasting the core of a major hurricane to pass close over the island,” he said in a statement posted online.

“Find a safe place to ride out the storm by nightfall. Be prepared to stay there through Wednesday,” the NHC director added.

In Jamaica, storm surges of 1.5 to 2.4 metres (5-8 feet) above normal tide levels are possible, as well as heavy rainfall.

“It’s a big risk in the Caribbean, especially for the mountainous islands,” Brennan said. “This could lead to potentially life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides in those areas.”

A tropical storm warning has been issued for the entire southern coast of Hispaniola, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

As the storm moved through the southeastern Caribbean Sea, rescue workers were trying to determine the extent of the damage caused after it made landfall on Carriacou, an island off Grenada, as a Category 4 hurricane.

Three people were reported dead in Grenada and Carriacou and one more in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, officials said.

Two more deaths were reported in northern Venezuela, where five people are missing, according to officials.

Around 25,000 people in the area were affected by the heavy rains caused by Beryl.

Destruction in the Caribbean

Kerryne James, Grenada’s Minister of Climate Resilience, Environment and Renewable Energy, says the islands of Carriacou and Petit Martinique suffered the most damage.

Beryl destroyed dozens of homes and businesses in Carriacou.

“The situation is grim,” Grenadian Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said on Tuesday.

“There is no electricity and there is almost complete destruction of houses and buildings on the island. Roads are not passable and in many cases are blocked by the large amount of debris scattered on the streets.”

He added that “the possibility of further deaths remains a sad reality as movement is still severely restricted.”

His counterpart in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, has promised to rebuild the archipelago.

Gonsalves said 90% of the island’s homes were destroyed and “similar levels of devastation” were expected in Myreau and Canouan.

A situation that was not experienced two decades ago

The last major hurricane to hit the southeastern Caribbean was Ivan, 20 years ago, which caused dozens of deaths in Grenada.

Roy O’Neale, 77, of Grenada, recalled how he lost his home to Ivan and rebuilt it more solidly; his current home had minimal damage from Hurricane Beryl.

“I could feel the wind whistling, and then for about two hours straight, it was really scary at times. There were tree branches flying everywhere,” the victim said.

Hundreds of people have sought refuge in shelters across the southeastern Caribbean, including 50 adults and 20 children who crowded into a school in Grenada.

“Maybe some of them thought they could survive at home, but when they realized the severity of the phenomenon… they came looking for shelter,” said Urban Mason, a retired teacher who runs the shelter.

People tend to be very trusting.

One of the houses damaged by Beryl belongs to the parents of Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat, originally from Carriacou.

The storm also destroyed his late grandmother’s house.

In a statement, Stiell said the climate crisis is going from bad to worse, and is happening faster than expected.

“Whether it is in my hometown of Carriacou, hit by Hurricane Beryl, or in the heatwaves and floods that are paralysing entire communities in some of the world’s largest economies, it is clear that the climate crisis is driving disasters to new record levels of destruction,” he said.

Grenada, known as the “Spice Island,” is one of the world’s leading exporters of nutmeg. Mitchell noted that most of the spice is grown in the northern part of the island, which was hardest hit by Beryl.

A hurricane that arrived early

Beryl has broken several records, including being the easternmost hurricane to form in the tropical Atlantic in June, according to Philip Klotzbach, a hurricane researcher at Colorado State University.

The cyclone went from a tropical depression to a major hurricane in just 42 hours, something that had only happened with six others in the Atlantic, and never before in September, said hurricane expert Sam Lillo.

Beryl is the second named storm of the Atlantic season, which runs from June 1 to November 30.

Tropical Storm Alberto made landfall in northeastern Mexico in June, killing four people.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts the 2024 hurricane season will be well above average, with between 17 and 25 named storms.

At least 13 hurricanes and four major hurricanes are forecast this season.

On average, the Atlantic season typically has 14 named storms, seven of them hurricanes and three of them Category 3 or higher.