Hurricane Beryl, a Category 4 storm that swept through the Caribbean this week killing at least seven people and causing destruction, will pass near or over Jamaica on Wednesday afternoon, forecasters warned. Officials on the island have urged residents to prepare for what is expected to be a dangerous and difficult day with strong winds and heavy rains that may bring life-threatening flash floods.
Here are key things to know about the storm.
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The storm surge accompanying Beryl is expected to raise water levels by up to eight feet along the coast of Jamaica as the storm passes over the island around Wednesday afternoon. The storm is expected to bring up to eight inches of rain across the island, with isolated amounts up to a foot. The heavy downpours may cause life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides.
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Beryl devastated islands in Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, killing at least four people, after making landfall earlier on Monday as a Category 4 hurricane. Another three people died in northern Venezuela, where the storm caused heavy rains and flooding.
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By the weekend, the storm is expected to emerge into the Gulf of Mexico as a strong tropical storm at least, but there is still no consensus on what direction it will take after passing over the Yucatán Peninsula, likely on Thursday night.
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The Mexican government issued a hurricane watch for the peninsula’s east coast. The government of Belize issued a tropical storm watch stretching south from the country’s border with Mexico to Belize City.
Beryl is the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record in the Atlantic Ocean, according to Philip Klotzbach, a meteorologist at Colorado State University who specializes in tropical cyclones. The previous record was set by Hurricane Emily on July 17, 2005, he said.
By early Wednesday, the hurricane had weakened slightly to winds of 145 miles per hour, having peaked on Tuesday with sustained wind speeds of 165 m.p.h., the center said. The weakening trend was likely to continue over the next couple of days. A hurricane needs wind speeds of at least 157 m.p.h. to be classified as a Category 5. A hurricane with winds of at least 111 m.p.h. is considered a major storm.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and a hurricane warning was in effect for Jamaica, where hurricane conditions were expected on Wednesday, the center said. The government of the Cayman Islands issued a hurricane warning on Tuesday afternoon for Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac.
Hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean have become more likely to grow from a weak storm into a major Category 3 or higher hurricane within just 24 hours, according to a study published last year.
Beryl is the third earliest major hurricane to ever form in the Atlantic, according to Dr. Klotzbach. The only hurricanes to have formed earlier in a calendar year were Alma on June 8, 1966, and Audrey on June 27, 1957. Both made landfall on the U.S. coastline in the Gulf of Mexico: Alma near St. Marks, Fla., and Audrey near Port Arthur, Texas.
Beryl dealt a hard blow to Grenada.
Officials in Grenada were still assessing the complete scale of the damage on the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique on Tuesday. Mr. Mitchell, the prime minister, said that he would travel to Carriacou as soon as it was safe to do so. There was no power on the islands, and communication was difficult, officials said.
Even before the hurricane made landfall in Grenada, the roof of one police station had blown off. The roof of a hospital was also damaged and patients were evacuated to the lower level, Mr. Mitchell said.
Just north of Carriacou, several islands in St. Vincent and the Grenadines also suffered “immense destruction,” Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said in a social media briefing.
This hurricane season is expected to be busy.
Forecasters have warned that the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season could be much more active than usual.
In late May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted 17 to 25 named storms this year, an “above-normal” number and a prediction in line with more than a dozen forecasts earlier in the year from experts at universities, private companies and government agencies. Hurricane seasons produce 14 named storms, on average.
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