Hurricane Beryl, which made landfall on the island of Carriacou in Grenada as the earliest Category 4 storm in the Atlantic, strengthened to Category 5 status late Monday. The storm ripped doors, windows, and roofs off homes across the southeastern Caribbean, fueled by the Atlantic's record warmth.
Beryl made landfall on the Grenada island of Carriacou as the Atlantic's first Category 4 hurricane, and by late afternoon, the National Hurricane Centre in Miami reported that its winds had climbed to 160 mph (260 kph). As the hurricane moved deeper into the Caribbean, its strength was expected to fluctuate in the coming days.
Grenada's Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said one person had died, but he could say precisely the number as authorities could not assess the situation on the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique, where there were initial reports of major damage with communications mostly down.
Beryl was still sweeping the southeast Caribbean late Monday as it moved into the Caribbean Sea, headed just south of Jamaica and towards Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula by late Thursday as a Category 1 hurricane.
Hurricane Beryl was around 510 miles (825 kilometres) east-southeast of Isla Beata in the Dominican Republic, moving west-northwest at 22 mph (33 kph). A hurricane warning was issued for Jamaica, as well as a tropical storm warning for the southern coast of Hispaniola, an island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Fluctuations were expected, but Beryl was projected to maintain major hurricane intensity as it proceeded across the central Caribbean and passed near Jamaica on Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Centre.
The most recent powerful hurricane to reach the southeast Caribbean was Hurricane Ivan, which killed scores of people in Grenada 20 years ago.
Video Credit: WHNT News 19
Grenada: Hurricane Beryl jumps to Category 5 after it destroys southeast Caribbean islands
