Hurricane Beryl approaches southeastern Caribbean

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hurricane Beryl was approaching the southeastern Caribbean and government officials urged people Sunday evening to take shelter from the dangerous Category 3 storm.

The storm was expected to make 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,” the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami warned, saying Beryl would “produce potentially life-threatening winds and storm surges.”

Beryl was centered about 110 miles (175 kilometers) south-southeast of Barbados early Monday. It had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (195 km/h) and was moving west at 20 mph (31 km/h). It is a compact storm, with hurricane-force winds extending 30 miles (45 kilometers) from its center.

It had gained strength in Category 4 on Sunday before weakening slightly, and further fluctuations in strength were expected.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for Martinique and Trinidad. A tropical storm watch was issued for Dominica, the entire southern coast of Haiti, and from Punta Palenque in the Dominican Republic to the border with Haiti.

Beryl is expected to pass just south of Barbados early Monday, then track into the Caribbean Sea as a major hurricane heading toward Jamaica. It is expected to weaken by mid-week, but remain a hurricane heading toward Mexico.

Historic hurricane

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, a hurricane researcher at Colorado State University.

It took Beryl just 42 hours to transform from a tropical depression to a major hurricane — a feat accomplished only six times in Atlantic hurricane history, and with Sept. 1 as the earliest, hurricane expert Sam Lillo said.

Beryl then grew in power, becoming the first Category 4 Atlantic hurricane on recordbeating Hurricane Dennis, which became a Category 4 storm on July 8, 2005, said Michael Lowry, a hurricane specialist and storm surge expert.

“Beryl is an extremely dangerous hurricane and rare for this time of year in this region,” Lowry said in a telephone interview. “Unusual is an understatement. Beryl is already a historic hurricane and it hasn’t hit yet.”

Hurricane Ivan in 2004 was the last major hurricane to hit the southeastern Caribbean, causing catastrophic damage to 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 Granada, worked Sundays at a local hotel, preparing guests and urging them to stay away from windows as she stocked enough food and water for everyone.

She said she was a child when Hurricane Ivan hit and she wasn’t afraid of Beryl.

“I know it’s part of nature. I’m OK with that,” she said. “We just have to live with it.”

Meteorologists have warned that a potentially life-threatening storm surge could reach 10 feet (3 meters) in areas where Beryl makes landfall, with 3 to 6 inches (7.6 to 15 centimeters) of rain for Barbados and neighboring islands and possibly 10 inches (25 centimeters) in some areas.

Warm waters feed Beryl, with the deep Atlantic ocean heat content 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 height of hurricane season in September.

Beryl marks the easternmost point where a hurricane formed in the tropical Atlantic in June, breaking a record set in 1933, according to Klotzbach.

“Please take this very seriously and prepare,” said Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. “It’s a terrible hurricane.”

Preparing for the storm

Long lines formed outside gas stations and grocery stores across Barbados and other islands as people rushed to prepare for a rapidly intensifying storm.

Thousands of people were in Barbados to Twenty20 World Cup final on Saturdaycricket’s biggest event, with Prime Minister Mia Mottley noting that not all fans were able to leave on Sunday despite many rushing to change flights.

“Some of them have never been through a storm before,” she said. “We have plans to take care of them.”

Mottley said all businesses would have to close Sunday night and warned that the airport would close overnight.

Across Barbados, residents prepared, including Peter Corbin, 71, who helped his son install plywood to protect the glass doors of his home. He said by telephone that he was concerned about Beryl’s impact on the islands just east of Barbados.

“It’s like a butcher cutting up a pig,” he said. “They have to build a bunker somewhere. That will be difficult. »

In St. Lucia, Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre announced a nationwide lockdown for Sunday night and said schools and businesses would remain closed Monday.

“The preservation and protection of life is a priority,” he said.

Looking forward

Caribbean leaders were preparing not only for Beryl, but also for a group of thunderstorms that would follow the hurricane and had a 70 percent chance of developing into a tropical depression.

“Don’t let your guard down,” Mottley said.

Beryl is the second named storm in what is expected to be an above-average hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30 in the Atlantic. Earlier this month, Tropical Storm Alberto Heavy rains have made landfall in northeastern Mexico, killing four people.

A tropical depression formed near the coastal city of Veracruz in eastern Mexico on Sunday night, and the National Hurricane Center warned of flooding and mudslides.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts that the 2024 hurricane season will likely be well above average, with between 17 and 25 named storms. Forecasts call for up to 13 hurricanes and four major hurricanes.

An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 14 named storms, including seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes.