Hurricane Beryl tracker: Jamaica braces for 'life threatening wind and storm surge' as deadly storm roars across Caribbean
At least six deaths have been blamed on the storm so far.
Hurricane Beryl is expected to bring life-threatening winds and storm surge to Jamaica Wednesday, after the Category 4 storm ripped across islands in the southeast Caribbean, killing at least six people.
According to the latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center, Beryl has lost some intensity but is still expected to be near major-hurricane strength when it passes near or over Jamaica at midday before taking aim at the Cayman Islands and Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.
Here's what you need to know about the storm and its path.
What is Hurricane Beryl's current path?
The storm — with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph — is currently located about 125 miles southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, moving west-northwest at 20 mph.
A hurricane warning is now in effect for Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac.
Hurricane watches are in effect for the southern coast of Haiti from the border with the Dominican Republic to Anse d'Hainault and the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula from Chetumal to Cabo Catoche, forecasters said.
Storm warnings are issued for an area when weather conditions are expected to arrive within 36 hours.
Beryl's death toll
At least six deaths have been blamed on the storm so far.
At least three people have died in Carriacou and Petite Martinique, Grenada; another person died in St. Vincent and the Grenadines; and two people were killed in Venezuela, according to officials there.
"The situation is grim," Grenadian Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said at a news conference on Tuesday. "There is no power, and there is almost complete destruction of homes and buildings on the island. The roads are not passable, and in many instances they are cut off because of the large quantity of debris strewn all over the streets."
Experts shocked by Beryl's rapid intensification
Michael Lowry, a hurricane and storm surge expert, told the Associated Press that this rapidly developing hurricane is a "very serious threat."
"Beryl is an extremely dangerous and rare hurricane for this time of year in this area," he said in a phone interview with the AP. "Unusual is an understatement. Beryl is already a historic hurricane."
The last strong hurricane to affect the southeast Caribbean was Hurricane Ivan in September 2004. Ivan battered Grenada as a Category 3 and killed 39 people.
The start of a busy Atlantic hurricane season
On Monday, Beryl became the earliest Atlantic hurricane to reach the Category 5 level. (It is both the earliest Category 4 and Category 5 storm on record in the Atlantic.)
Its emergence also marks an an ominous start to the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which typically doesn't ramp up until late July or August.
And experts agree that this could be one of the busiest hurricane seasons on record. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced in May that it expected eight to 13 hurricanes in the Atlantic, with four to seven of them classified as major hurricanes, meaning at least 111 mph winds.
