A powerful Category 4 hurricane named Beryl struck the Caribbean island of Carriacou on Monday, bringing catastrophic winds and posing ‘life-threatening conditions’, as reported by the US National Hurricane Center.
The US weather tracker advised residents to stay sheltered as the “extremely dangerous eyewall” passed over the island, which is part of Grenada.
The NHC emphasized the seriousness of the situation, urging residents to remain in their shelters until the dangerous conditions had passed. The prime minister of Grenada, Dickon Mitchell, shared a video on Facebook showing the destructive impact of large waves and intense winds across the tri-island state.
Mitchell called on citizens to seek shelter immediately and comply with an island-wide curfew from 7:00 pm to 7:00 am on Tuesday morning.
The occurrence of such a potent storm at this early stage of the Atlantic hurricane season, which typically runs from early June to late November, is considered highly unusual. Michael Lowry, an expert on hurricanes, mentioned that only five major hurricanes of Category 3 or higher have been documented in the Atlantic before the first week of July. Beryl would mark the sixth and the earliest to form this far east in the tropical Atlantic.
Despite experiencing strong winds and heavy rainfall, Barbados officials reported that the island seemed to have avoided significant damage, with no injuries reported thus far.
Moreover, various Caribbean islands, such as Barbados, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Tobago, were placed under hurricane warnings. Meanwhile, Jamaica, Martinique, Trinidad, St Lucia, as well as parts of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, were under hurricane watch or tropical storm warnings.
Tobago declared a state of emergency, leading to the closure of schools on Monday, as confirmed by senior official Farley Augustine. Additionally, the Caribbean regional organization CARICOM postponed a meeting that was scheduled to be held in Grenada this week.
