Hurricane Beryl, fueled by record warm waters, has strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane, unleashing its fury on the southeastern Caribbean. The storm, the earliest Category 4 hurricane in the Atlantic, made landfall on the island of Carriacou in Grenada on Monday, tearing off doors, windows, and roofs in homes across the region. Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell confirmed one fatality and said authorities were unable to assess the situation on the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique due to downed communication lines. Reports of major damage emerged, and Mitchell expressed concerns about potential further casualties.
Across the southeastern Caribbean, streets were littered with debris, including shoes, trees, downed power lines, and scattered belongings. Banana trees were snapped in half, leaving cows dead in pastures while nearby homes made of tin and plywood leaned precariously. Vichelle Clark King, surveying her sand and water-filled shop in Bridgetown, Barbados, expressed heartbreak over the devastation.
Beryl, still a formidable force on Monday evening, pushed into the Caribbean Sea, heading south of Jamaica and towards Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. The storm was expected to weaken to a Category 1 hurricane by late Thursday. Despite the potential for weakening, Beryl remained a dangerous storm. A hurricane warning was issued for Jamaica, and a tropical storm warning was issued for the entire southern coast of Hispaniola.
The National Hurricane Center emphasized the danger, warning that Beryl is expected to remain an extremely dangerous major hurricane as it moves over the eastern Caribbean. The last major hurricane to hit the southeast Caribbean was Hurricane Ivan, which killed dozens in Grenada 20 years ago.
Grenada’s National Disaster Coordinator, Terence Walters, reported “devastating” damage in Carriacou and surrounding islands. Prime Minister Mitchell confirmed an extensive storm surge and said he would travel to Carriacou as soon as it was safe. Grenada officials were forced to evacuate patients to a lower floor after hospital roof damage. Mitchell expressed concern about the possibility of even greater damage, urging continued prayers.
In Barbados, Wilfred Abrahams, Minister of Home Affairs and Information, announced that drones would be deployed to assess damage once Beryl passes, offering a faster alternative to ground crews.
Hurricane Beryl’s rapid intensification from a tropical depression to a major hurricane in just 42 hours was an extraordinary event, achieved only six other times in Atlantic hurricane history. It also surpassed Hurricane Dennis, which reached Category 4 status on July 8, 2005, to become the earliest Category 4 Atlantic hurricane on record.
The unusually warm ocean waters, hotter than typical for the peak of hurricane season in September, fueled Beryl’s rapid intensification. Michael Lowry, hurricane specialist and storm surge expert, explained that Beryl’s development also marked the farthest east that a hurricane has formed in the tropical Atlantic in June, breaking a record set in 1933.
Jaswinderpal Parmar, a visitor from Fresno, California, stranded in Barbados with thousands of other cricket fans due to canceled flights, shared his experience. He and his family, who had traveled for the Twenty20 World Cup cricket final, were experiencing their first hurricane. He described their sleepless night and the constant calls from worried friends and family.
As Beryl continued its path through the Caribbean, government officials issued warnings about a cluster of thunderstorms mimicking its trajectory. These thunderstorms had a 70% chance of developing into a tropical depression. Hurricane specialist Michael Lowry expressed concern about the potential for back-to-back storms, highlighting the vulnerability of weakened infrastructure to secondary storms.
Beryl is the second named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30. Earlier this month, Tropical Storm Alberto made landfall in northeast Mexico, claiming four lives. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted an above-average 2024 hurricane season, with between 17 and 25 named storms, including 13 hurricanes and four major hurricanes. An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 14 named storms, with seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes.
