Beryl, the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season, slammed into the Caribbean island of Carriacou, which is part of Grenada, on Monday as a powerful Category 4 storm, the National Hurricane Center said.
"The eye of #Beryl has made landfall on Carriacou Island," the NHC wrote on X, warning residents in a separate bulletin of "life-threatening conditions" and that "winds will rapidly increase within the eyewall."
Hurricane Beryl strengthened early Monday as it plowed toward the southeast Caribbean where officials warned residents to seek shelter ahead of powerful winds and storm swells, with landfall expected in the coming hours.
Beryl intensified to an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest update, warning that "life-threatening winds and storm surge" were expected as the core of the storm moves through the clustering of Windward Islands.
Experts say that such a powerful storm forming this early in the Atlantic hurricane season -- which runs from early June to late November -- is extremely rare.
"Only five major (Category 3+) hurricanes have been recorded in the Atlantic before the first week of July," hurricane expert Michael Lowry posted on social media platform X.
"Beryl would be the sixth and earliest this far east in the tropical Atlantic."
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as well as Grenada were at the highest risk of being at the center of the storm's core, the NHC said, with Beryl "nearing the Windward Islands and expected to make landfall within the next few hours" according to a 9:00 am (1300 GMT) bulletin from the center.
Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell urged citizens to quickly seek shelter and to respect an island-wide curfew ordered for 7:00 pm to 7:00 am Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile the island of Barbados was buffeted by high winds and pelting rain, but seemed to have avoided disaster, with its minister of home affairs and information stating no injuries had been reported.
Barbados seemed to have "dodged a bullet," Wilfred Abrahams said in a video, but nonetheless "gusts are still coming, the storm-force winds are still coming" he said, warning residents to remain inside until the all-clear.
Barbados, plus Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, and Tobago were all under hurricane warnings, the NHC said, while tropical storm warnings or watches were in effect for Martinique, Trinidad and St. Lucia.
A state of emergency was declared in Tobago, the smaller of the two islands that make up Trinidad and Tobago, with schools ordered closed on Monday, top official Farley Augustine said.
A meeting this week in Grenada of the Caribbean regional bloc CARICOM was postponed.
- Extreme weather -
Beryl became the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season early Saturday morning and quickly strengthened to Category 4, the first ever to reach that level in June, according to NHC records.
A Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale is considered a major hurricane, and a Category 4 storm packs sustained winds of at least 130 miles per hour (209 kilometers per hour).
On Monday morning, Beryl's maximum sustained wind speed was hovering around 130 mph with higher gusts, said NHC.
Beryl is expected to remain powerful as it moves across the Caribbean, the NHC said, warning residents and officials in the Lesser Antilles, Hispaniola, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and the remainder of the northwestern Caribbean to carefully monitor its progress.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in late May that it expects this year to be an "extraordinary" hurricane season, with up to seven storms of Category 3 or higher.
The agency cited warm Atlantic Ocean temperatures and conditions related to the weather phenomenon La Nina in the Pacific for the expected increase in storms.
Extreme weather events including hurricanes have become more frequent and more devastating in recent years as a result of climate change.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
