Jamaica is on high alert as Hurricane Beryl barrels west as a far-too-early Category Five storm.
Information was still rolling on 02JUL, but officials in Grenada, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines reported widespread destruction from winds of up to 240 km/hour as Beryl slashed through the Windward Islands on the weekend. There were also reports of significant damage in Saint Lucia and flooding in Barbados.
Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said there are “widespread reports of destruction and devastation in Carriacou and Petite Martinique,” small islands that are part of Grenada. “In half an hour, Carriacou was flattened.”
NBC News reports one person killed in Grenada’s capital of St George’s when a tree fell on a house. The Jamaica Observer is reporting at least one death on the island of Bequia, part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“Sadly, it has been reported…that one person died,” St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said on 01JUL. "There may be more fatalities. We are not yet sure."
Gonsalves said 90% of the homes were destroyed on Union Island, one of the islands in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The posh Palm Island Resort and Spa is just a couple of kilometres from Union Island.
Hundreds of more homes, schools, churches, and government buildings in St. Vincent also sustained severe damage, CNN reports.
“Tomorrow, we get up with our commitment and conviction to rebuild our lives and our families’ lives,” Gonsalves said.
Hurricane Beryl was spinning west early on 02JUL and could hit Jamaica on 03JUL. A hurricane warning has been issued for the island.
CNN says the storm is expected to bring “life-threatening winds and storm surge” to Jamaica and, on 04JUL, could skirt the Cayman Islands, where a hurricane watch has been issued. Reports say Beryl is expected to weaken in the coming days but could still be near hurricane force as it passes Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.
The storm is then expected to diminish in strength and move west towards the Yucatan Peninsula, possibly impacting Cancun and the Riviera Maya or Belize.
Cruise lines with ships in the Caribbean have made extensive changes to their itineraries to deal with the storm. Air Canada and other airlines have weather advisories out for Jamaica for 03JUL and the Cayman Islands for 04JUL, with revised ticketing policies in place.
Beryl is the earliest Category 5 hurricane in recorded Caribbean history, a fact some experts blame on warming ocean waters. They also fear an early hurricane of this strength suggests stronger storms could follow.
"It’s rare to see a storm rapidly intensify this fast, this early in the season, in this part of the Atantic,” AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Forecaster Alex DaSilva told the BBC.
The last hurricane of this magnitude to hit the southeast Caribbean was Hurricane Ivan, which killed dozens of people in Grenada 20 years ago.
CNN said Beryl is the strongest hurricane to pass through the Grenadines, according to US data dating back to 1851.
