Hurricane Beryl, the first Category 4 storm to hit the Caribbean in June, made landfall in the southeast late on Sunday. Authorities had advised locals to take cover in anticipation of strong winds and waves that were predicted to arrive overnight.
When Beryl hits populated islands in the southeast Caribbean early on Monday, it will still be a “very dangerous Category 4 hurricane,” according to the US National Hurricane Center, which issued a warning to locals. Beryl is currently churning in the Atlantic Ocean, about 150 miles southeast of Barbados.
The NHC stated in its 11:00 p.m. advisory that “life-threatening winds and storm surge expected to begin soon for portions of the Windward Islands.”
According to The Ultimate News, starting early on Monday, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada were most at risk of being in the storm’s core.
The most recent NHC advisory stated that hurricane warnings were in effect for Barbados, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, and Tobago. Tropical storm warnings or watches were in effect for Martinique and, further along the storm’s path, southern Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
The smaller of the two islands that make up Trinidad and Tobago, Tobago, has declared a state of emergency, and on Monday, schools were ordered to close, according to top official Farley Augustine.
Prime Minister of Grenada Dickon Mitchell asked his people to take cover as soon as possible and to abide by an island-wide curfew that was imposed from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. until Tuesday morning.
The storm also forced the Caribbean regional bloc CARICOM to postpone a meeting that was scheduled to take place this week in Grenada.
Cars were seen lining up at gas stations in Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados, while people were crammed into supermarkets and grocery stores to purchase food, water, and other necessities. A few homes had already boarded up their buildings.
Early on Saturday morning, Beryl made landfall as the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season. She rapidly intensified into Category 4, becoming the first hurricane to ever reach that level in June, according to NHC records.
Major hurricanes are defined as those with Saffir-Simpson classifications of Category 3 or higher, and Category 4 storms have sustained winds of at least 130 mph.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported that Beryl was bringing 130 mph maximum sustained winds around 5:00 p.m. on Sunday.
The NHC issued a warning to officials and citizens in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and the rest of the northwest Caribbean to closely monitor Beryl’s progress as it is expected to remain potent as it moves across the region.
According to experts, it is extremely rare for a storm of this magnitude to form this early in the Atlantic hurricane season, which lasts from early June to late November.
“Until the first week of July, there had only been five major hurricanes reported in the Atlantic. According to hurricane expert Michael Lowry, Beryl would be the sixth and earliest in the tropical Atlantic this far east on social media platform X.
With up to seven storms rated as Category 3 or higher, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted in late May that this year would be a “extraordinary” hurricane season.
The agency attributed the predicted rise in storms to warm Atlantic Ocean temperatures and circumstances associated with the Pacific weather phenomenon La Nina.
Climate change has led to an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, in recent years.