KINGSTON, Jamaica — Hurricane Beryl was heading toward the southeastern Caribbean on Sunday, urging residents to quickly complete preparations as the “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm, the first recorded in June, is expected to make landfall overnight.
The Jamaica Meteorological Service said Sunday night that it was too early to declare the storm a “threat” to the island, but that the country was at “risk” of heavy rain and strong winds.
“At this point we are not declaring this a threat to Jamaica. It could well be a threat… At this point, this is a risk that we have to manage,” Evan Thompson, the weather service’s principal director, told reporters at a press conference.
“By tomorrow (Monday) morning we will be able to assess and decide whether we consider it a threat given its current incursion into the Caribbean region and whether the forecast models are sustainable,” he added.
He said Jamaica was at risk of heavy rains and strong winds associated with a hurricane, “as well as all the complications associated with storm surges, landslides and the hazards associated with hurricane activity.”
Meanwhile, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) warned residents that Beryl, currently swirling in the Atlantic Ocean about 250 miles (400 km) southeast of Barbados, will remain an “extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane” when it reaches the populated southeastern Caribbean island early Monday.
“All preparations should be completed urgently today,” he said, urging residents to listen to instructions from local governments and emergency authorities.
The report said Beryl would bring “potentially catastrophic hurricane-force winds, life-threatening storm surge and destructive waves” to the Windward Islands, including Martinique, St. Lucia and Grenada.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada are at highest risk of being hit by the storm’s centre from early Monday morning, the NHC said.
According to the latest NHC advisory, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and Tobago are all under hurricane warnings, while tropical storm watches or watches are in effect for Martinique and further along the storm’s path, southern Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
A state of emergency has been declared in Tobago, the smaller of the two islands that make up Trinidad and Tobago, and schools have been ordered closed from Monday, said Farley Augustine, a senior official.
In Barbados’ capital, Bridgetown, cars queued at petrol stations and supermarkets and grocery stores were packed with shoppers buying food, water and other supplies. Some families had already boarded up their homes.
Beryl became the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season early Saturday and quickly strengthened to a Category 4, the first time it has reached that level in June, according to NHC records.
