Hurricane Beryl was heading toward Jamaica on Tuesday as a monster Category 5 storm, killing at least five people and causing widespread destruction as it slammed into the southeastern Caribbean.
Although it is expected to weaken slightly on Tuesday, the storm will still make landfall in Jamaica on Wednesday as a “nearly major” hurricane, bringing life-threatening winds, storm surges, rainfall and flash flooding, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned.
Beryl devastated the southeastern Caribbean as a Category 4 hurricane, killing at least three people in Grenada, one in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and one in Venezuela, officials said.
Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said Cariacou Island – which the NHC said was directly hit by the hurricane – was almost completely cut off, with homes, telecommunications and fuel facilities destroyed by winds of up to 150 miles (90 kilometers) per hour.
“We have had no contact with Karriacou in the last 12 hours except for a brief conversation via satellite phone this morning,” he told a news conference.
About 9,000 people live on the 13.5-square-mile (35-square-kilometer) island. Mitchell said at least two people were killed there, while a third person was killed when a tree fell on a home on Grenada’s main island.
The family of UN climate chief Simon Steele is among the residents of Carriacou. His office said his parents’ property was damaged.
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said about 90 percent of the homes on Union Island in St. Vincent were damaged or destroyed, along with the airport. The three-square-mile island has a population of about 3,000.
The storm also killed one person on another island, Bequia, Gonsalves said.
“Beryl has left behind enormous destruction, pain and suffering,” he said in a video on Facebook late Monday.
A man died after being swept away by floods in Sucre state on Venezuela’s northeastern coast, officials said.
Barbados appears to have escaped the worst of the effects but is still experiencing strong winds and torrential rain, although authorities have not yet reported any casualties.
Martinique was also largely spared, though boats were damaged and the city of Fort-de-France was flooded in some locations.
‘Dangerous precedent’
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.
According to NHC records, Beryl is the first hurricane to reach Category 4 status in June, and the first to reach Category 5 in July.
Category 3 or higher on the Saffir–Simpson scale are considered major hurricanes.
The oceans are the main driver of storms, and many factors are involved in their formation and intensity – but heat is key.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said that Beryl “sets a dangerous precedent for a very active hurricane season.”
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 also 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.
Climate crisis ‘main culprit’
UN climate chief Stiel said climate change was “pushing disasters to new record levels of destruction”.
“Disasters on a scale that used to be the stuff of science fiction are becoming meteorological fact, and the climate crisis is the main culprit,” he said on Monday.
In its latest update from 1200 GMT, the NHC said Beryl had maximum sustained winds of 165 miles (270 kilometers) per hour as it headed toward Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.
The storm is moving at 22 miles (35 kilometers) per hour across the Caribbean Sea, and is expected to pass near Jamaica on Wednesday and the Cayman Islands by Thursday.
Tropical storm warnings have also been issued for the southern coasts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
The NHC said hurricane-force winds extended about 40 miles (65 kilometers) from the storm’s center.
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