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Hurricane Beryl is barreling towards the Caribbean, with the Category 4 storm expected to bring life-threatening winds and storm surges to the Windward Islands on Monday morning.
The hurricane reached Category 4 strength on Sunday, becoming the earliest storm of such strength in the season on record in the Atlantic, as well as the only Category 4 ever recorded in June.
It reduced to a Category 3 early on Monday, before strengthening again to an “extremely dangerous major” Category 4 hurricane hours later as it approaches the Windward Islands, the National Hurricane Centre advised.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada are at the greatest risk of the storm’s impact, with the National Hurricane Center (NHC) warning that the islands should brace for “potentially catastrophic” hurricane-force winds, a life-threatening storm surge and damaging waves from early Monday morning.
Alongside this, heavy rainfall and localized flooding is expected across several other Windward Islands including Barbados and Saint Lucia through Monday.
The NHC urged residents across the Caribbean islands to listen to their local governments and emergency management teams for any preparedness and/or evacuation orders.
With the hurricane heading for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines overe carnival weekend, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves on Sunday urged residents to postpone their festivities and prepare for Beryl to hit.
Gonsalves has already ordered the early closure of bars and postponed some carnival events, according to Loop News.
Airports were also shuttered including in Barbados, Grenada, and Saint Lucia on Sunday night in preparation for the storm.
Beryl is forecast to remain a powerful hurricane as it moves across the Caribbean Sea later this week, with Tropical Storm watches in effect for portions of the southern coast of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
The previous holder of the title of the earliest Category 4 hurricane on record was Hurricane Dennis on July 8 2005.