- Early Atlantic storm causes widespread Caribbean damage
- Hurricane Beryl becomes catastrophic category-five hurricane
- Severe wind and damage reported, power and water outages expected
According to officials, this is the earliest a storm of this strength has formed in the Atlantic. Roofs have been ripped off buildings, and electricity lines have collapsed on some islands while others prepare for the hurricane’s arrival.
Just hours after Hurricane Beryl landed in the southeastern Caribbean, widespread damage was recorded.
When the severe storm rolled in early on Monday, it ripped roofs off buildings, uprooted trees, and brought electricity wires tumbling down on numerous islands.
Wind gusts up to 150 mph were reported in specific locations, forcing schools, businesses, airlines, and government buildings to close. There were also concerns that power shortages and water disruptions were imminent.
According to the National Hurricane Centre in Miami, Florida, Beryl has become a potentially catastrophic category-five hurricane, projected to bring life-threatening winds and a storm surge to Jamaica later this week.
On Monday, officials announced that a category four hurricane had formed in the Atlantic for the first time this year, fueled by hot seas.
Hurricane Dennis held the previous record, reaching the threshold on July 8, 2005, and killing dozens of people in the region.
Grenada’s national disaster coordinator, Terence Walters, stated that he has already received “reports of devastation” from Carriacou and the surrounding islands.
Dickon Mitchell, Grenada’s prime minister, claimed a hospital’s roof had been destroyed, forcing patients to be evacuated to a lower floor.
He warned reporters, “There is a possibility of even greater damage.” We have no choice but to continue praying.
NBC Radio in St Vincent and the Grenadines reported that roofs were being pulled off churches and schools, and communication networks had collapsed.
The country’s prime minister, Ralph Gonsalves, expected the natural calamity to last for days.
“We have to wait this monster out,” he declared in a national address.
Barbados officials claimed they had received over a dozen reports of roof damage, fallen trees, and broken electricity lines.
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Wilfred Abrahams, Minister of Home Affairs and Information, stated that drones would examine the damage after the hurricane had gone.
Residents of surrounding Caribbean islands are likewise ready for the impending hurricane.
Storm warnings are in effect for Saint Lucia and Martinique, as well as portions of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. A hurricane watch has also been issued for Jamaica.
The most recent powerful hurricane to reach the southeast Caribbean was Hurricane Ivan, which killed scores of people in Grenada 20 years ago.
According to scientists, climate change has increased the likelihood of more powerful and early storms.
Christopher Rozoff of the National Centre for Atmospheric Research in the United States stated, “climate change is loading the dice for more intense hurricanes to form.
The hurricane is predicted to diminish somewhat as it passes over the Caribbean Sea just south of Jamaica before heading towards Mexico as a Category 1 storm.
