As Hurricane Beryl barrels toward Caribbean isles, it's already "historic"
Hurricane Beryl was closing in on the southeastern Caribbean early Monday after government officials pleaded with people to take shelter from the storm. Forecasters say the hurricane will bring "extremely dangerous" weather conditions to areas in its path.
By 8 a.m. EDT, the National Hurricane Center said Beryl had strengthened again into a Category 4 storm after previously downgrading it to a Category 3. The hurricane center warned that "life-threatening winds and storm surge" were expected to begin in the Windward Islands.
Beryl is expected to make landfall on Monday morning before moving across the southeastern and central Caribbean later in the day through Wednesday.
Hurricane warnings were in effect for Barbados, Grenada, Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Tropical storm warnings were in place for Martinique, Trinidad and St. Lucia. A hurricane warning is ordered when hurricane conditions are imminent and "preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion" within the warning area, according to the hurricane center. A tropical storm warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected in the warning area within 36 hours.
"Beryl is nearing the southern Windward Islands and expected to make landfall within the next hour or two," the center warned at 10 a.m. EDT. "This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation."
As of 10 a.m., Beryl was centered about 50 miles east of Grenada and 25 miles south-southeast of Carriacou Island. Vincent, scampering west-northwest at 31 mph with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph. It is a compact storm, with hurricane-force winds extending 30 miles from its center. Around the same time, a weather station in at Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados reported sustained winds of 52 mph and gusts of 69 mph, according to the hurricane center.
Residents in the Grenadine Islands and Carriacou Islands were advised not to leave their shelters as forecasters expected winds to increase rapidly within the eyewall of the hurricane.
"Remain in place through the passage of these life-threatening conditions and do not venture out in the eye of the storm," the center said.
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 was forecast to weaken by midweek, but still remain a hurricane while heading toward Mexico.
Beryl breaking records
When Beryl strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane Sunday morning, it become 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."
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.
Locals getting ready
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 9 feet in areas where Beryl makes landfall, with 3 to 6 inches of rain for Barbados and nearby islands and possibly 10 inches in some areas.
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."
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% chance of becoming a tropical depression.
"Do not let your guard down," Mottley said.
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 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.
