Hurricane Beryl was closing in on the southeastern Caribbean early Monday after government officials told people to take shelter from the dangerous Category 3 storm.
Beryl was expected to make landfall in the Windward Islands on Monday morning and then move across the southeastern and central Caribbean late Monday into Wednesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in Miami. Hurricane warnings were in effect for Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“This is a very dangerous situation,” the center warned, adding that “Beryl was expected to bring deadly winds and storm surges.”
As of 5 a.m. EDT, Beryl was centered about 125 miles east-southeast of Granada and 140 miles southeast of St. Vincent, moving west at 20 mph with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph. It was a compact storm, with hurricane-force winds extending 30 miles from its center.
NOAA / National Hurricane Center
It had gained Category 4 strength on Sunday before weakening slightly, and further fluctuations in strength were expected. A hurricane needs maximum sustained winds of 130 mph to be considered a Category 4.
“It appears that the hurricane may be undergoing eyewall replacement, in which it becomes temporarily weaker in exchange for a larger wind field,” observed the senior weather and climate producer at CBS News, David Parkinson.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for Martinique and Trinidad. A tropical storm watch was issued for Dominica, the entire southern coast of Haiti, and from Punta Palenque in the Dominican Republic west to the border with Haiti.
Beryl was expected to pass just south of Barbados early Monday and then move into the Caribbean Sea as a major hurricane on a path to Jamaica. It was expected to weaken by midweek, but still remain a hurricane as it heads toward Mexico.
Beryl breaks records
Beryl initially strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane Sunday morning, becoming the first major hurricane east of the Lesser Antilles on record in June, according to Philip Klotzbach, a hurricane researcher at Colorado State University.
Beryl took just 42 hours to strengthen from a tropical depression to a major hurricane, a feat accomplished only six other times in Atlantic hurricane history, and with September 1 as the earliest date, said hurricane expert Sam Lillo.
Beryl then gained further strength, becoming the first Category 4 Atlantic hurricane on record, surpassing Hurricane Dennis, which became a Category 4 storm on July 8, 2005, said hurricane specialist and storm surge expert Michael Lowry.
“Beryl is an extremely dangerous and rare hurricane for this time of year in this area,” Lowry said in a telephone interview. “Unusual is an understatement. Beryl is already a historic hurricane and it hasn't hit yet.”
Hurricane Ivan in 2004 was the last major hurricane to hit the southeastern Caribbean, causing catastrophic damage to Grenada as a Category 3 storm.
“This is a serious threat, a very serious threat,” Lowry said of Beryl.
The locals are getting ready
Reecia Marshall, who lives in Granada, was working the Sunday shift at a local hotel, preparing guests and urging them to stay away from windows while she stocked enough food and water for everyone.
She said she was a little girl when Hurricane Ivan hit and she's not afraid of Beryl.
“I know it's part of nature. I'm fine with it,” he said. “We just have to live with it.”
Forecasters warned of a life-threatening storm surge of up to 9 feet in areas where Beryl makes landfall, with 3 to 6 inches of rain in Barbados and nearby islands and possibly 10 inches in some areas.
Warm waters are fueling Beryl, with ocean heat content in the deep Atlantic the highest on record for this time of year, said Brian McNoldy, a tropical meteorology researcher at the University of Miami.
Lowry said the waters are now warmer than they would be at the height of hurricane season in September.
Beryl marks the farthest a hurricane has formed in the tropical Atlantic in June, breaking a record set in 1933, according to Klotzbach.
“Please take this very seriously and prepare,” said Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. “This is a terrible hurricane.”
Long lines formed at gas stations and grocery stores in Barbados and other islands as people rushed to prepare for a rapidly intensifying storm.
Thousands of people were in Barbados for Saturday's Twenty20 World Cup final, cricket's biggest event, and Prime Minister Mia Mottley noted that not all fans were able to leave on Sunday despite many rushing to change flights
“Some of them have never been through a storm before,” he said. “We have plans to take care of them.”
Mottley said all businesses should close Sunday evening and warned the airport would close overnight.
Across Barbados, people braced up, including 71-year-old Peter Corbin, who helped his son put up plywood to protect the glass doors of his home. He said by phone that he was concerned about Beryl's impact on islands east of Barbados.
“This is like a butcher butchering a pig,” he said. “They have to make a bunker somewhere. It's going to be difficult.”
In St. Lucia, Premier Philip J. Pierre announced a national shutdown for Sunday evening and said schools and businesses would remain closed Monday.
“The preservation and protection of life is a priority,” he said.
Caribbean leaders were preparing not just for Beryl, but for a cluster of storms after the hurricane that had a 70 percent chance of becoming a tropical depression.
“Don't let your guard down,” Mottley said.
Beryl is the second named storm in what is expected to be an above-average hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30 in the Atlantic. Earlier this month, Tropical Storm Alberto made landfall in northeastern Mexico with heavy rains that killed four.
A tropical depression formed near the coastal city of Veracruz in eastern Mexico on Sunday evening, with the National Hurricane Center warning of flooding and mudslides.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts that the 2024 hurricane season will be well above average, with 17 to 25 named storms. The forecast calls for up to 13 hurricanes and four major hurricanes.
An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 14 named storms, seven of them hurricanes and three major hurricanes.
