Hurricane Beryl is barreling toward Jamaica as a Category 4 storm with 155mph winds after charting a deadly path through Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines, destroying buildings and killing at least six.
Beryl intensified to the earliest Category 5 storm recorded in the Atlantic overnight before weakening back to Category 4 on Tuesday. The storm made landfall in the Windward Islands on Monday, where it “flattened” Carriacou Island within half an hour, Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said.
Hurricane Beryl has killed at least six people: Three in Grenada, two in northern Venezuela and one in St Vincent and the Grenadines. One of the victims died in Grenada’s capital after a tree fell on their home, Mitchell said.
This evening, the Category 4 storm will bring up to three feet of storm surge to Hispaniola.
Hurricane Beryl will reach Jamaica, which is now under a Hurricane Warning, on Wednesday. Residents of the Cayman Islands are also bracing for Hurricane Beryl to hit on Thursday night. The storm will likely maintain strength as it travels.
The Category 4 hurricane also has the potential to hit Texas over the weekend, according to projections from the National Weather Service.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines suffer ‘horrendous’ damages, prime minister says
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have suffered hundreds of millions of dollars worth of “horrendous” damages after Hurricane Beryl, the prime minister said.
“This is a horrific hurricane,” said Ralph Gonsalves, prime minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to Al Jazeera, adding that houses, schools and health facilities were without electricity and some parts didn’t have drinking water
“On the main island of Saint Vincent, we have had substantial damage, horrendous damage but not to the same extent as the devastation in the southern part,” he said on Tuesday.
“It could be hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage and loss.”
Stuti Mishra3 July 2024 05:35
President Biden speaks on extreme weather and climate crisis
As Hurricane Beryl rages through the Caribbean Sea, President Joe Biden spoke on the impacts of the climate crisis.
“Everyone who wilfully denies the impacts of climate change is condemning the American people to a dangerous future, and either is really, really dumb or has some other motive,” Biden said on Tuesday afternoon.
Record-warm ocean temperatures gave Hurricane Beryl the strength to grow from a tropical depression to a Category 4 storm in a matter of days.
While natural weather patterns like La Nina can help drive catastrophic storms like Hurricane Beryl, the human-driven climate crisis still plays a role, as oceans absorb more than 90 percent of excess heat produced by greenhouse gases.
High water temperatures can contribute to sea level rise and hurt marine life in addition to fueling strong storms like Hurricane Beryl. Ocean temperatures will likely continue to rise even if we curb greenhouse gas emissions, according to NOAA.
Katie Hawkinson3 July 2024 05:01
X labeled AccuWeather’s Hurricane Beryl map as misinformation. Meteorologists worry it could cost lives
AccuWeather meteorologists say X labeled their projected Hurricane Beryl path as “false information” but allowed other obvious misinformation on the site – a decision that could cost lives.
At least six people have died as Hurricane Beryl sweeps through the eastern Caribbean.
Katie Hawkinson3 July 2024 04:00
In photos: Devastation in Bequia after Hurricane Beryl
Hurricane Beryl destroyed homes and knocked out power as it passed through Bequia, the largest island in the Grenadines.
At least one person died on the island because of the storm, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said on Monday. The hurricane also damaged or destroyed 90 percent of homes on the nation’s Union Island.
Katie Hawkinson3 July 2024 02:00
Hurricane Beryl became earliest Category 5 hurricane on record in the Atlantic
Hurricane Beryl has now beaten two historic records in the Atlantic.
Beryl was named the earliest Category 5 hurricane recorded in the Atlantic after it strengthened late on Monday, the National Hurricane Center has said. The previous title was held by Hurricane Emily, who reached Category 5 on July 16, 2005.
Beryl was also named the earliest-ever Category 4 hurricane as it approached the eastern Caribbean over the weekend, as well as the only Category 4 in the month of June.
In this category, Beryl beat Hurricane Dennis, which became a Category 4 storm on July 8, 2005.
The deadly storm weakened back down to a Category 4 on Tuesday afternoon. It is now barreling towards Jamaica, where officials warn residents should rush life-saving protections to completion.
Katie Hawkinson3 July 2024 01:00
Video: Hurricane Beryl tears roof off school as storm rips through Caribbean
Katie Hawkinson2 July 2024 23:00
Life-saving protections in Jamaica should be ‘rushed to completion,’ forecasters warn
Measures to protect life and property in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands should be “rushed to completion,” the National Weather Service said early Tuesday evening.
“Life-threatening winds and storm surge” will hit Jamaica on Wednesday before moving to the Cayman Islands that evening, the NWS forecasts.
Life-threatening flash flooding will impact Jamaica and southern Hispaniola through Wednesday night.
The NWS said there is still uncertainty about Beryl’s path afterward — however, projections show it could hit southern Texas by the week’s end.
Katie Hawkinson2 July 2024 22:30