Hurricane Beryl struck the Caribbean island of Carriacou on Monday, bringing “life-threatening conditions” including destructive winds, according to US trackers. The storm has strengthened further after it became a powerful Category 4 hurricane.
As an “extremely dangerous eyewall” is moving over the island that is part of Grenada, the US National Hurricane Center has warned residents “not to leave their shelters as winds will rapidly increase.”
1200 PM AST July 1 Situation Update: Extremely Dangerous #beryl It is producing damaging winds and life-threatening storm surge across the southern Windward Islands. Go here for the latest information pic.twitter.com/xgMxdNrd5W
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) July 1, 2024
The NHC reported on the X that the eye of Beryl reached Carriacou Island at 1510 GMT, and said in a bulletin that it was producing “destructive winds and life-threatening storm surge”.
Posting a video showing large waves, Grenada’s prime minister’s office wrote on Facebook that the tri-island state was “experiencing strong winds and damage.”
“This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation,” the NHC said. “Residents should not leave their shelters and should remain there during these life-threatening conditions.”
Experts say it’s extremely rare for such a powerful storm to form so early in the Atlantic hurricane season (which runs from early June to late November).
“Only five major (Category 3+) hurricanes have ever been recorded in the Atlantic before the first week of July,” hurricane expert Michael Lowry wrote on the social media platform X.
“Beryl would be the sixth and oldest in the tropical Atlantic Ocean.”
Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell urged citizens to seek shelter immediately and adhere to an island-wide curfew imposed from 7 a.m. to 7 a.m. Tuesday.
Officials in Barbados, in the northeast of the Caribbean region, said the island was hit by strong winds and torrential rain, but disaster appeared to have been averted, with no casualties reported so far.
Home Affairs and Information Minister Wilfred Abrahams said in a video that Barbados had “dodged a bullet,” but “there are still strong winds, there are still gale force winds,” he said, and warned residents to stay indoors until the all-clear is given.
Barbados, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Tobago are all under hurricane warnings, while hurricane watches or tropical storm warnings or watches are in effect for Jamaica, Martinique, Trinidad, St. Lucia, and parts of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, the NHC said.
A state of emergency has been declared on Tobago, the smaller of the two islands that make up Trinidad and Tobago, and schools ordered to close on Monday, top official Farley Augustine said.
A meeting of the Caribbean regional bloc CARICOM scheduled to take place in Grenada this week has been postponed.
extreme weather
Beryl became the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season on Saturday morning and quickly strengthened to Category 4, the first hurricane to reach that level in June, according to NHC records.
On the Saffir-Simpson scale, a Category 3 or higher is considered a major hurricane, and a Category 4 hurricane has sustained winds of at least 130 mph (209 kph).
The NHC said Hurricane Beryl was packing strong winds when it struck Carriacou, with gusts reaching 150 mph.
The NHC said Beryl was expected to remain strong as it moves across the Caribbean, and warned residents and officials in the Lesser Antilles, Hispaniola, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and the rest of the northwestern Caribbean region to carefully monitor its progress.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in late May that this year’s hurricane season is expected to be “exceptional,” with up to seven storms of Category 3 or higher.
The agency cited warmer temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean and conditions related to the seasonal phenomenon La Nina in the Pacific Ocean for the expected increase in storms.
Extreme weather events, including hurricanes, have become more frequent and more destructive in recent years as a result of climate change.
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