Hurricane Beryl, now a devastating Category 5 storm, is expected to weaken on Tuesday but remain near at least Category 3 strength as it pushes through the central Caribbean and passes near Jamaica on Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center said.
It is the earliest Atlantic Category 5 hurricane on record, according to Philip Klotzbach, a meteorologist at Colorado State University who specializes in tropical cyclones. The previous record was Hurricane Emily on July 17, 2005, he said.
Beryl devastated islands in Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines after making landfall earlier on Monday as a Category 4 hurricane. Officials in the two nations reported one death each. It also threw life-threatening winds and storm surges at other islands across the Caribbean.
Here are key things to know about the storm.
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Officials in Grenada reported widespread destruction across the country’s three main islands, including Carriacou and Petite Martinique, where the electric grid was down. Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell of Grenada said that Carriacou had been “flattened” in half an hour.
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The storm surge accompanying Beryl is expected to raise water levels by up to five feet near along the coast of Jamaica as the storm passes by the island on Wednesday. Flash flooding is also a concern as the storm brings three to six inches of rain.
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By next weekend, the storm could make it into the Gulf of Mexico, but it is “too soon” to discuss what happens if and when it does, forecasters said Monday.
When Beryl developed into a Category 4 hurricane on Sunday, it was the earliest in a season that a storm had reached such strength. The earliest Category 4 hurricane on record had been Hurricane Dennis on July 8, 2005.
Beryl, the first hurricane of the 2024 season, was downgraded slightly early Monday but strengthened again to a Category 4 storm, with maximum sustained winds near 155 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center.
By Tuesday morning, sustained wind speeds had increased to 165 m.p.h., the center said. 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 categorized as 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 watch for its region.
Officials in Barbados said Monday morning that the island had been spared from the worst of the hurricane, which passed close to the southern tip of the country.
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 became a tropical storm late on Friday when its sustained winds reached 39 miles per hour. At 74 m.p.h., a storm becomes a hurricane.
Beryl dealt a hard blow to Grenada.
There was no electricity on any of Grenada’s islands on Monday morning and communication was difficult.
Mr. Mitchell said that there have been reports of extensive storm surge, losses of roofs and widespread damage to buildings. In Grenada, even before the hurricane made landfall, 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.
Officials said they hoped to begin damage assessment and recovery operations by late evening.
In Barbados, officials said they appeared to have avoided the worst effects of Beryl.
There were no overnight reports of injuries, Wilfred Abrahams, the minister of home affairs and information, said during on a broadcast from the emergency operations center in a daybreak broadcast.
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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