Hurricane Beryl passed over Jamaica, killing 7 people in the southeastern Caribbean
Kyiv • UNN
Hurricane Beryl, a powerful Category 4 storm, passed over Jamaica on Wednesday, bringing strong winds, heavy rains and significant damage, killing at least 7 people in the southeastern Caribbean.
Hurricane Beryl passed over Jamaica on Wednesday, bringing high winds and heavy rain after previously killing at least seven people and causing significant damage in the southeastern Caribbean as a powerful Category 4 storm, writes UNN citing AP.
Details
The U.S. National Hurricane Center reported that the "eye" of Hurricane Beryl "hit the southern coast of Jamaica.
A state of emergency has been declared in Jamaica, with the island declared a disaster zone hours before Beryl struck. Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the disaster zone regulation will be in effect for the next seven days. Evacuation orders have been issued for communities across Jamaica, in flood and landslide prone areas.
Rain poured down on the island for hours, amid residents heeding the authorities' call for shelter until the storm passes. Power was out in much of the capital. Holness said Wednesday afternoon that about 500 people had been placed in shelters. By late afternoon, he said Jamaica had not yet seen "the worst of what could happen.
According to the government information service, several roads in inland communities were hit by fallen trees and poles, while some communities in the northern part were without electricity.
By midday the wind was howling in the capital, stirring the sea as the "eye" of the Beryl moved to the south coast of the island.
John Porter, AccuWeather's chief meteorologist, called Beryl "the strongest and most dangerous hurricane Jamaica has faced probably in decades.
Hurricane Beryl hits Jamaica: 9 people killedJul 4 2024, 02:47 AM • 20742 views
A hurricane warning was in effect for Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, as well as the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico from Puerto Costa Maya to Cancun. According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, Beryl will weaken slightly over the next day or two but will still be at or near major hurricane strength when it passes near the Cayman Islands on Thursday and reaches Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula late Thursday night or Friday.
Mexico's Caribbean coast is already gearing up for Beryl.
The head of Mexico's civil defense agency said Beryl is expected to make a rare double strike on Mexico. Laura Velasquez said the hurricane is expected to hit a relatively deserted stretch of the Caribbean coast between Tulum and the inland city of Felipe Carrillo Puerto. Because the coast is mostly made up of lagoons and mangroves, there are few resorts and hotels in the area south of Tulum.
Mexican government officials removed sea turtle eggs from Cancun beaches Wednesday in an attempt to protect them from storm surge.
The hurricane is expected to weaken to a tropical storm when it crosses the Yucatan Peninsula and again reach storm force in the Gulf of Mexico over the weekend. Velazquez said Beryl is then expected to hit Mexico a second time in the Gulf Coast states of Veracruz or Tamaulipas near the Texas border.
Late Monday night, Beryl became the earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic, reaching maximum wind speeds of 270 km/h on Tuesday before weakening to a still destructive Category 4. Late Wednesday night, the center of the storm was located about 905 km east-southeast of Tulum, Mexico. It had maximum sustained wind speeds of 215 km/h and was moving west-northwest at 32 km/h.
The southern coast of Jamaica, where Kingston is located, was expected to take the brunt of Beryl's impact, with coastal water levels in some areas rising 1.8 to 2.7 meters above normal tide levels.
As Beryl raced across the Caribbean Sea, rescue crews in the southeastern islands were determining the extent of the hurricane's damage to Carriacou, an island in Grenada.
The local emergency management organization said about 95 percent of homes in Mayreau and Union Island were damaged by Hurricane Beryl.
Three people are reported dead in Grenada and Carriacou and another in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Officials say three more deaths have been reported in northern Venezuela, where five people are missing. About 25,000 people in the area were also affected by heavy rains due to Beryl.
One fatality in Grenada occurred after a tree fell on a house, Environment Minister Kerryn James told the Associated Press.
Grenada Prime Minister Deacon Mitchell said Tuesday that there is no electricity, roads are impassable and a possible rise in the death toll "remains a grim reality.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves has promised to rebuild the archipelago.
Supplement
The last major hurricane to hit the southeastern Caribbean was Hurricane Ivan 20 years ago, which killed dozens of people in Grenada.
