Beryl, earliest Category 4 hurricane on record, brings life-threatening winds to Caribbean
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A man boarding up a house ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Beryl in Bridgetown, Barbados, on June 30, 2024.
PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON – Hurricane Beryl, an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm,
The first hurricane of the 2024 season was located about 240km south-east of Barbados on the night of June 30, with maximum sustained winds of 215kmh, the NHC said in an advisory.
“Beryl is expected to remain an extremely dangerous major hurricane as its core moves through the Windward Islands into the eastern Caribbean,” the NHC said in its latest advisory.
The centre of the hurricane is expected to travel across the Windward Islands on the morning of July 1 as a Category 4 storm, the second-strongest level on a five-step scale, bringing “potentially catastrophic wind damage” to St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada.
It is rare for a major hurricane to appear this early in the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov 30. On June 30, Beryl became the earliest Category 4 hurricane on record, beating Hurricane Dennis, which became a Category 4 on July 8, 2005, according to NHC data.
Hurricane warnings have been issued in Barbados, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadine islands, Grenada and Tobago. A tropical storm watch has been issued for Dominica, Trinidad and parts of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
The authorities and residents on the Caribbean islands have been preparing for the storm's arrival.
Tobago has opened shelters, closed schools for July 1, and cancelled elective surgical operations in the hospitals, the authorities said.
The hurricane is expected to bring 8cm to 15 cm of rain across Barbados and the Windward Islands throughout the day on July 1, which the NHC warned could cause flash flooding in vulnerable areas.
Large, dangerous swells are also expected to batter the southern coasts of Puerto Rico and Hispaniola.
In May, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted above-normal hurricane activity in the Atlantic in 2024, in part due to near-record warm ocean temperatures. REUTERS
