Hurricane Beryl is closing in on the southeastern Caribbean and officials have warned that the 'extremely dangerous' storm could make landfall this morning.
Residents have been warned to take shelter and make emergency preparations as the 'powerful and potentially deadly' Category 3 storm moves towards the islands of Barbados, Dominica, Grenada and Martinique.
Forecasters predict the Beryl will develop into a category four hurricane and could hit winds of up to 155mph and a storm surge of 6 to 10feet.
Beryl is expected to pass south of Barbados early today and then head into the sea towards Jamaica, maps from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) show. The storm will weaken by midweek but still remain a hurricane as it heads towards Mexico.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as well as Grenada are at the highest risk of being at the center of the storm's core beginning today, the NHC warned, adding that 'potentially catastrophic wind damage is expected'.
Hurricane Beryl (pictured) is closing in on the southeastern Caribbean and officials have warned that the 'extremely dangerous' storm could make landfall this morning
Beryl is expected to pass south of Barbados early today and then head into the sea towards Jamaica, maps from the National Hurricane Center show. The storm should weaken by midweek but will still remain a hurricane as it heads towards Mexico
Government officials pleaded with people to take shelter from the dangerous Category 3 storm late Sunday ahead of its expected landfall in the Windward Islands on Monday morning.
Hurricane warnings were in effect for Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
'This is a very dangerous situation,' warned the NHC in Miami, saying Beryl was 'forecast to bring life-threatening winds and storm surge.'
Beryl was centered about 110miles (175kilometers) south-southeast of Barbados early Monday. It had maximum sustained winds of 120mph (195kph) and was moving west at 20mph (31kph).
It is a compact storm, with hurricane-force winds extending 30miles (45kilometers) from its center.
It had gained Category 4 strength Sunday before weakening slightly, and further fluctuations in strength were forecast.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for Martinique and Trinidad. A tropical storm watch was issued for Dominica, Haiti's entire southern coast, and from Punta Palenque in the Dominican Republic west to the border with Haiti.
People shop groceries at a supermarket in Scarborough, Trinidad and Tobago, as they prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Beryl on June 30, 2024
Members of the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment arrive ahead of Hurricane Beryl at Tobago's A.N.R. Robinson International Airport in Crown Point, Trinidad and Tobago June 30, 2024
A man boards up a house ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Beryl in Bridgetown, Barbados June 30, 2024
Beryl was expected to pass just south of Barbados early Monday and then head into the Caribbean Sea as a major hurricane on a path toward Jamaica.
It is forecast to weaken by midweek, but still remain a hurricane while heading toward Mexico.
Barbados, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and Tobago are all under hurricane warnings, the NHC said, while tropical storm warnings or watches were in effect for Martinique and farther along the storm's path, in southern Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
A state of emergency was declared in Tobago, the smaller of the two islands that make up Trinidad and Tobago, with schools ordered closed on Monday, top official Farley Augustine said.
Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell urged citizens to quickly seek shelter and to respect an island-wide curfew ordered for 7pm to 7am Tuesday morning.
A meeting this week in Grenada of the Caribbean regional bloc CARICOM was postponed due to the hurricane.
In the Barbadian capital of Bridgetown, cars were seen lined up at gas stations, while supermarkets and grocery stores were crowded with shoppers buying food, water and other supplies. Some households were already boarding up their properties.
Beryl was expected to pass just south of Barbados early Monday and then head into the Caribbean Sea as a major hurricane on a path toward Jamaica
Hurricane Beryl was centered about 110miles (175kilometers) south-southeast of Barbados early Monday. It had maximum sustained winds of 120mph (195kph) and was moving west at 20mph (31kph)
Hurricane Beryl is a compact storm, with hurricane-force winds extending 30miles (45kilometers) from its center. It had gained Category 4 strength Sunday before weakening slightly, and further fluctuations in strength were forecast
Strong winds blow in Bridgetown, Barbados on July 1, 2024 as Hurricane Beryl approaches
Grenadines Wharf lies vacant after ferries were sent to safer harbors ahead of Hurricane Beryl, in Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Sunday, June 30, 2024
Workers put bags of sand at the back door of a shop in preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Beryl in Bridgetown, Barbados on June 30, 2024
Beryl initially 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, Colorado State University hurricane researcher.
It took Beryl only 42 hours to strengthen from a tropical depression to a major hurricane - a feat accomplished only six other times in Atlantic hurricane history, and with Sept. 1 as the previous earliest date, hurricane expert Sam Lillo said.
Beryl then gained more power, becoming the earliest Category 4 Atlantic hurricane on record, besting Hurricane Dennis, which became a Category 4 storm on July 8, 2005, hurricane specialist and storm surge expert Michael Lowry said.
'Beryl is an extremely dangerous and rare hurricane for this time of year in this area,' Lowry said in a phone interview. 'Unusual is an understatement. Beryl is already a historic hurricane and it hasn't struck yet.'
A Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale is considered a major hurricane, and a Category 4 storm packs sustained winds of at least 130 miles per hour (209 kilometers per hour).
Beryl was packing maximum sustained winds that were estimated at 130 mph, the NHC said around 5pm on Sunday.
Beryl is expected to remain powerful as it moves across the Caribbean, the NHC said, warning residents and officials in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and the rest of the northwestern Caribbean to carefully monitor its progress.
People buy supplies, as they prepare ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Beryl, in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on June 30, 2024
People shop for bottled water in a supermarket ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Beryl in Bridgetown, Barbados on June 30, 2024
A woman carries a package of water bottles, as she prepares ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Beryl, in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on June 30, 2024.
Men load electrical generators into a car ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Beryl in Bridgetown, Barbados on June 30, 2024
Hurricane Ivan in 2004 was the last strong hurricane to hit the southeastern Caribbean, causing catastrophic damage in Grenada as a Category 3 storm.
'So this is a serious threat, a very serious threat,' Lowry said of Beryl.
Reecia Marshall, who lives in Grenada, was working a Sunday shift at a local hotel, preparing guests and urging them to stay away from windows as she stored enough food and water for everyone.
She said that she was a child when Hurricane Ivan struck and that she doesn't fear Beryl.
'I know it's part of nature. I'm OK with it,' she said. 'We just have to live with it.'
Forecasters warned of a life-threatening storm surge of up to 9feet (3meters) in areas where Beryl makes landfall, with 3 to 6inches (7.6 to 15centimeters) of rain for Barbados and nearby islands and possibly 10inches in some areas (25centimeters).
Warm waters are fueling Beryl, with ocean heat content in the deep Atlantic the highest on record for this time of year, said Brian McNoldy, a tropical meteorology researcher at the University of Miami.
Lowry said the waters are now warmer than they would be at the peak of the hurricane season in September.
Beryl marks the farthest east that a hurricane has formed in the tropical Atlantic in June, breaking a record set in 1933, according to Klotzbach.
'Please take this very seriously and prepare yourselves,' said Ralph Gonsalves, the prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. 'This is a terrible hurricane.'
Strong winds blow as Hurricane Beryl approaches Bridgetown, Barbados on July 1, 2024
Strong winds are seen blowing palm trees along the south coast of Barbados on Sunday about 20 hours before the expected landfall of Hurricane Beryl
Fishing boats lie in a field after being moved to prevent potential damage ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Beryl in Calliaqua, St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Sunday, June 30, 2024
A pool is closed in the south coast of Barbados on Sunday as preparations are underway for Category 3 storm Hurricane Beryl to make landfall
Long lines formed at gas stations and grocery stores in Barbados and other islands as people rushed to prepare for a storm that rapidly intensified.
Thousands of people were in Barbados for Saturday's Twenty20 World Cup final, cricket's biggest event, with Prime Minister Mia Mottley noting that not all fans were able to leave Sunday despite many rushing to change their flights.
'Some of them have never gone through a storm before,' she said. 'We have plans to take care of them.'
Mottley said all businesses should close by Sunday evening and warned that the airport would close by nighttime.
Across Barbados, people prepared, including Peter Corbin, 71, who helped his son put up plywood to protect his home's glass doors. He said by phone that he worried about Beryl's impact on islands just east of Barbados.
'That's like a butcher cutting up a pig,' he said. 'They've got to make a bunker somewhere. It's going to be tough.'
In St. Lucia, Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre announced a national shutdown for Sunday evening and said schools and businesses would remain closed Monday.
'Preservation and protection of life is a priority,' he said.
Caribbean leaders were preparing not only for Beryl, but for a cluster of thunderstorms trailing the hurricane that had a 70 per cent chance of becoming a tropical depression.
'Do not let your guard down,' Mottley said.
People buy wood to protect their windows as they prepare ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Beryl, in Cancun, Mexico on June 30, 2024
A man prepares by securing his boat ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Beryl, in Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago on June 30, 2024
People are seen shopping for wood in Cancun, Mexico on June 30, 2024 in a bid to protect their windows as they prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Beryl
Drivers queue to fill their tanks outside a gas station in Scarborough, Trinidad and Tobago, as they prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Beryl on June 30, 2024
Beryl is the second named storm in what is forecast to be an above-average hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 in the Atlantic.
Earlier this month, Tropical Storm Alberto came ashore in northeastern Mexico with heavy rains that resulted in four deaths.
On Sunday evening, a tropical depression formed near the eastern Mexico coastal city of Veracruz, with the National Hurricane Center warning of flooding and mudslides.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said in late May that it expects this year to be an 'extraordinary' hurricane season, with up to seven storms of Category 3 or higher.
NOAA predicts the 2024 hurricane season is likely to be well above average, with between 17 and 25 named storms. The forecast calls for as many as 13 hurricanes and four major hurricanes.
An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 14 named storms, seven of them hurricanes and three major hurricanes.
The agency cited warm Atlantic Ocean temperatures and conditions related to the weather phenomenon La Nina in the Pacific for the expected increase in storms.
Extreme weather events including hurricanes have become more frequent and more devastating in recent years as a result of climate change.
