This satellite image obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Hurricane Beryl on 2 July 2024, at 12:20 GMT, east of Jamaica. (Handout / NOAA/GOES / AFP)
- Hurricane Beryl has resulted in at least seven deaths and
significant damage across the southeastern Caribbean. - Jamaica and the Cayman Islands are under hurricane
warnings and are expected to be affected next. - Beryl has set records as the first storm to reach
Category 4 in June and achieve Category 5 status in July in the Atlantic
season, highlighting concerns over the increasing intensity of storms due to
warmer ocean temperatures.
Hurricane
Beryl churned towards Jamaica Tuesday, with forecasters warning of potentially
deadly winds and storm surge, after the storm killed at least seven people and
caused widespread destruction across the southeastern Caribbean.
The
powerful hurricane, which is rare so early in the Atlantic season, weakened
Tuesday but was still an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm.
Meteorologists said it is expected to pass “near or over” Jamaica on
Wednesday.
Beryl is
the first storm since US National Hurricane Center records began to reach the
Category 4 level in June and the earliest to reach Category 5 in July.
According
to the NHC, a hurricane warning was in place for the island nation. The warning
said rain and flash flooding were to be expected in addition to the
life-threatening wind and high water levels.
Across
Jamaica, emergency response preparations were underway, with shelters stocking
up on provisions, people safeguarding their homes and boats being pulled from
the water.
“I
urge all Jamaicans to stock up on food, batteries, candles, and water. Secure
your critical documents and remove any trees or items that could endanger your
property,” Prime Minister Andrew Holness said on X.
If the storm gets serious, electricity and water services will likely be shut off as a precaution to prevent fires and protect equipment. Make sure you have candles, batteries, or other light sources.
If using candles or lamps, take safety precautions to avoid fires. pic.twitter.com/Q0hA6nbaOB
— Andrew Holness (@AndrewHolnessJM) July 3, 2024
Hurricane
warnings were also issued in the Cayman Islands, which Beryl is “expected
to pass near or over” on Wednesday night or early Thursday, according to
the NHC.
In the
Dominican Republic, massive waves were seen crashing into the shore along Santo
Domingo as the storm passed to the country’s south, AFP photographers reported.
‘No
communication’
Beryl has
already left a trail of death in its wake, with at least three people killed in
Grenada, where Beryl made landfall Monday, as well as one in St Vincent and the
Grenadines and three in Venezuela, officials said.
Grenada’s
Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said the island of Carriacou, which was struck
by the eye of the storm, has been all but cut off, with houses,
telecommunications and fuel facilities there flattened.
Mitchell told a news conference:
We’ve had virtually no communication with Carriacou in the last 12 hours except briefly this morning by satellite phone.
The 35-square-kilometre
island is home to around 9 000 people. At least two people there died, Mitchell
said, with a third killed on the country’s main island of Grenada when a tree
fell on a house.
In St.
Vincent and the Grenadines, one person on the island of Bequia was reported
dead from the storm, and a man died in Venezuela’s northeastern coastal state
of Sucre when he was swept away by a flooded river, officials there said.
World
Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed concern about
the region, saying on X that his organisation “stands ready to support the
national authorities with any health needs.”
‘Alarming
precedent’
Experts say
it is extremely rare for such a powerful storm to form this early in the
Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from early June to late November.
Warm ocean
temperatures are key for hurricanes, and North Atlantic waters are currently
between two and five degrees Fahrenheit (1-3 degrees Celsius) warmer than
normal, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
READ | Hurricane Beryl pummels Caribbean, strengthens to ‘earliest’ Category 5 storm in the Atlantic
The World
Meteorological Organization (WMO) said Beryl “sets an alarming precedent
for what is expected to be a very active hurricane season.”
NOAA said
in late May that it expects this year to be an “extraordinary”
hurricane season, with up to seven storms of Category 3 or above.
Climate crisis
‘chief culprit’
UN climate
chief Simon Stiell, who has family on the island of Carriacou, said climate
change was “pushing disasters to record-breaking new levels of
destruction.”
“Disasters
on a scale that used to be the stuff of science fiction are becoming
meteorological facts, and the climate crisis is the chief culprit,” he
said Monday, reporting that his parents’ property was damaged.
According
to the NHC, as of 23:00 GMT on Tuesday, Beryl had maximum sustained winds of
240 kilometers per hour as it headed towards Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.
A hurricane
watch and tropical storm warnings have also been issued for parts of Haiti.