Hurricane Beryl expected to strengthen into a powerful Category 4 storm as it approaches the southeastern Caribbean
Hurricane Beryl is expected to strengthen into a powerful Category 4 storm as it approaches the southeastern Caribbean, prompting government officials to urge people to take shelter.
Hurricane warnings were in effect for Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“This is a very serious and developing situation for the Windward Islands,” the National Hurricane Center in Miami warned, saying Beryl is “expected to bring life-threatening winds and storm surges… as an extremely dangerous hurricane.
Beryl strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane Sunday morning, becoming the first major hurricane east of the Lesser Antilles on record for June, according to Philip Klotzbach, a hurricane researcher at Colorado State University.
Beryl is now only the third Category 3 hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic in June, following Audrey in 1957 and Alma in 1966, according to hurricane expert Michael Lowry.
Beryl was located approximately 750 kilometers (465 miles) east-southeast of Barbados. It was a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 155 km/h (100 mph) and was moving west at 33 km/h (21 mph).
Two hurricane hunters were en route to the storm to gather more details about its intensity, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Beryl is expected to pass just south of Barbados early Monday and then enter the Caribbean Sea as a major hurricane heading toward Jamaica. It is expected to weaken by mid-week but still remain a hurricane as it heads toward Mexico.
Forecasters have warned of a life-threatening storm surge of up to 3 meters (9 feet) in areas where Beryl will make landfall, with up to 15 centimeters (6 inches) of rain for Barbados and neighboring islands.
Long lines formed at gas stations and grocery stores in Barbados and other islands as people rushed to prepare for a storm that quickly intensified from a tropical storm with winds of 56 kph (35 mph) on Friday to a Category 1 hurricane on Saturday.
Warm waters fed Beryl, with ocean heat content in the deep Atlantic the highest ever recorded for this time of year, according to Brian McNoldy, a tropical meteorologist at the University of Miami.
Beryl marks the easternmost point where a hurricane formed in the tropical Atlantic in June, breaking a record set in 1933, according to Philip Klotzbach. If Beryl’s winds reach 201 km/h (125 mph), it would be the second-earliest such storm on record in the Atlantic, surpassing Audrey in 1957, he added.
Additionally, if Beryl reaches Category 3, it would be only the third storm to do so in the Caribbean before August; Dennis and Emily did so in July 2005, according to Klotzbach.
“We must remain vigilant,” Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley said in a public address late Saturday. “We don’t want to put anyone’s life in danger. »
Thousands of people were in Barbados for the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup final on Saturday, cricket’s biggest event, with Mottley noting that not all fans were able to leave on Sunday despite numerous flight changes.
“Some of them have never been through a storm before,” she said. “We have plans to take care of them. »
Mottley said all businesses must close by Sunday evening and warned the airport would close by night.
source: AP
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