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The Cayman Islands are bracing Thursday morning for Hurricane Beryl, now a Category 3 storm, to pass by, bringing with it 120mph (195km/h) strong winds and dangerous storm surge as it moves away from Jamaica.
Hurricane Beryl hit Jamaica with life-threatening rain, 145mph winds and storm surge, with the storm knocking down power lines in Portland, the Jamaica Observer reports.
After imposing a curfew overnight on Wednesday, the Jamaican government has now discontinued its Hurricane Warning as Beryl starts to move away, however, rainfall and flash-flooding still pose a risk on the island.
There are more than 900 shelters across Jamaica and an evacuation process for those in flood-prone areas, Information Minister Dana Morris Dixon said.
The storm’s eye is approaching the Cayman Islands Thursday before heading toward Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.
Hurricane Beryl has killed at least eight people. The storm intensified to the earliest Category 5 storm recorded in the Atlantic overnight before weakening back to Category 4 on Tuesday.
While the storm is expected to weaken later this week, it will likely remain a major hurricane. Hurricane Beryl has the potential to hit southern Texas and Louisiana over the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.
Grenada was left with “unimaginable” destruction after the storm passed through Monday, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said. Officials said 98 percent of buildings in the nation of 6,000 had been damaged or destroyed.
400,000 without power in Jamaica after Hurricane Beryl battered island
Hundreds of thousands of homes are without power in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl’s destruction after its conditions hit Jamaica on Wednesday.
The country’s energy provider, JPS, said that 65 per cent, which is around 400,000 of its customers, were left without power on Thursday morning.
The Jamaican government said on Wednesday several roadways in the country’s interior settlements were impacted by fallen trees and utility poles, while some communities in the northern section and the capital were without electricity.
In Pictures: Hurricane Beryl leaves a path of devastation in Grenada
Hurricane Beryl: Travel advice after storm causes severe damage – with ‘life-threatening’ winds forecast
Death toll rises to at least eight after Beryl tearing through the Caribbean
At least one person more has died as Beryl devastates the southeastern Caribbean after one death was confirmed in Jamaica.
A woman has been killed after a tree fell on her house in the western parish of Hanover, Richard Thompson, the head of the country’s disaster agency, told The New York Times.
A rescue team was also searching for a 20-year-old man who had been swept away in a gully after he was trying to retrieve a ball he was playing with in Kingston, the newspaper reports.
At least three people died in Venezuela, three died in Grenada and one person died in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Weather is deteriorating in the Cayman Islands as Beryl’s core nears
While Hurricane Beryl has dropped down to a Category 3, the National Hurricane Centre warns that it is still forecast to be ‘near major hurricane intensity’ on Thursday as it passes by the Cayman Islands.
As of 5am EDT (10am GMT), Beryl was located just 55 miles (90km) south-southeast of Grand Cayman. Weather is deteriorating in the Cayman Islands with strong winds, dangerous storm surge and damaging waves expected there later Thursday morning, the National Hurricane Center states in its most recent update.
A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac and the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico from Puerto Costa Maya to Cancun, including Cozumel.
Beryl’s winds have decreased, but are still at a strong 120mph (195 km/h).
Very soon, the Cayman Islands are expected to experience hurricane wind conditions, as well as in the Yucatan Peninsula late today or early Friday.
Storm surges could raise water levels along the immediate coast of the Cayman Islands as much as two to four feet above normal, bringing with it large and destructive waves.
Beryl is also bringing rainfall totals of four to six inches over the Cayman Islands on Thursday, the same expected for the Yucatan Peninsula later today into Friday. The Yucatan Peninsula could see localized amounts of 10 inches as well.
Scattered instances of flash flooding is expected over the region.
Cruise lines forced to change plans as Hurricane Beryl moves through the Caribbean
Hurricane conditions diminishing across Jamaica as it moves towards Cayman Islands
After Hurricane Beryl devastated several Caribbean islands this week and most recently battered Jamaica with Category 4-force winds, the National Hurricane Center said the extreme conditions should be subsiding around the island.
Storm surge should gradually be dwindling in Jamaica on Thursday morning; however, Beryl is still expected to produce rainfall totals of four to eight inches with localized amounts of 12 inches across this morning in the nation.
The rain could still cause life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides.
A Hurricane Warning has been discontinued in Jamaica as Beryl begins to move away from the island, the country’s Meteorological Service said on Wednesday night.
However, a flash flood watch was still in effect until 5am on Tuesday EST.
“With Jamaica now being outside of the range of hurricane force winds from Hurricane Beryl, and with storm surge no longer posing a threat to coastal areas of the island, the Hurricane Warning is being discontinued with immediate effect,” the Meteorological Service wrote in their bulletin.
Along with the continuing threats of rainfall and flash flooding in Jamaica in the aftermath of the hurricane, strong, gusty winds could still exist, and rising water levels will continue to affect southwestern coastal areas.
All small craft operators are urged to remain in port until sea conditions return to normal, the Meteorological Service said.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced that the curfew imposed in the island nation will be extended until Thursday morning amid continuing adverse weather conditions.
The curfew went into effect at 11.00pm Wednesday (4am GMT Thursday) and will stay through the night until 6am (11am GMT) on Thursday.
Video: Aerial view captures extensive devastation in Carriacou caused by Hurricane Beryl
Hurricane Beryl dropped to a Category 3 storm
Hurricane Beryl has weakened to a Category 3 storm, however, it is still sustaining strong winds of 125mph (205 km/h), the National Hurricane Center has said in its most recent update.
Strong winds, dangerous storm surge and damaging waves are expected across the Cayman Islands overnight.
As of 2am EDT, the center of Hurricane Beryl was located by Grand Cayman and Air Force Hurricane Hunter radar imagery near latitude 18.3 North, longitude 80.1 West – around 110 miles (175km) southeast of Grand Cayman.
The core of Beryl will sweep just south of the Cayman Islands overnight and over the Yucatan Peninsula early Friday.
The hurricane is then expected to emerge over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico Friday night and turn northwestward.
Hurricane Beryl leaves Caribbean in 'immense destruction'
“The hurricane has come and gone, and it has left in its wake immense destruction,” prime minister Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines said.
In Grenada, prime minister Dickon Mitchell said they'll have to “We "rebuild from the ground up" after visiting the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique, which sustained the maximum damage from Beryl.
“There’s no power and there’s almost complete destruction of homes and buildings on the island. The roads are not passable, and in many instances, they are cut off because of the large quantity of debris strewn all over the streets.”
Beryl is the earliest ever category 5 storm ever recorded. It occurred as ocean heat in the Atlantic was already higher due to global heating, nearing levels usually seen in peak season in September.
This has raised alarm over what the rest of the Atlantic hurricane season could be like.
“It’s really scary stuff,” Steve Maximay, a climate and agriculture expert in Grenada, told The Independent.
”When you talk about category four and five, there are very few systems or protocols that can prepare you for that. You can have resilient buildings but category five winds can move concrete structures.”
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2024-07-04 10:00:00Z
CBMidmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmluZGVwZW5kZW50LmNvLnVrL25ld3Mvd29ybGQvYW1lcmljYXMvaHVycmljYW5lLWJlcnlsLWxpdmUtdXBkYXRlcy10cmFja2VyLWphbWFpY2EtY2FycmliZWFuLWIyNTczNzAwLmh0bWzSAQA
