Hurricane Beryl strengthened early Monday as it plowed toward the southeast Caribbean where officials warned residents to seek shelter ahead of powerful winds and storm swells, with landfall expected in the coming hours.
Beryl intensified to an 鈥榚xtremely dangerous鈥� Category 4 storm, the US National Hurricane Center said in its latest update, warning that 鈥榣ife-threatening winds and storm surge鈥� were expected as the core of the storm moves through the clustering of Windward Islands.
Experts say that such a powerful storm forming this early in the Atlantic hurricane season 鈥� which runs from early June to late November 鈥� is extremely rare.
鈥極nly five major (Category 3+) hurricanes have been recorded in the Atlantic before the first week of July,鈥� hurricane expert Michael Lowry posted on social media platform X.
鈥楤eryl would be the sixth and earliest this far east in the tropical Atlantic.鈥�
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as well as Grenada were at the highest risk of being at the center of the storm鈥檚 core, the NHC said, with Beryl 鈥榥earing the Windward Islands and expected to make landfall within the next few hours鈥� according to a 9:00am (1300 GMT) bulletin from the centre.
Grenada prime minister Dickon Mitchell urged citizens to quickly seek shelter and to respect an island-wide curfew ordered for 7:00pm to 7:00am Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile the island of Barbados was buffeted by high winds and pelting rain, but seemed to have avoided disaster, with its minister of home affairs and information stating no injuries had been reported.
Barbados seemed to have 鈥榙odged a bullet,鈥� Wilfred Abrahams said in a video, but nonetheless 鈥榞usts are still coming, the storm-force winds are still coming鈥� he said, warning residents to remain inside until the all-clear.
Barbados, plus Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, and Tobago were all under hurricane warnings, the NHC said, while tropical storm warnings or watches were in effect for Martinique, Trinidad and St. Lucia.
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.
A meeting this week in Grenada of the Caribbean regional bloc CARICOM was postponed.
Beryl became the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season early Saturday morning and quickly strengthened to Category 4, the first ever to reach that level in June, according to NHC records.
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.
On Monday morning, Beryl鈥檚 maximum sustained wind speed was hovering around 130 mph with higher gusts, said NHC.
Beryl is expected to remain powerful as it moves across the Caribbean, the NHC said, warning residents and officials in the Lesser Antilles, Hispaniola, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and the remainder of the northwestern Caribbean to carefully monitor its progress.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in late May that it expects this year to be an 鈥榚xtraordinary鈥� hurricane season, with up to seven storms of Category 3 or higher.
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.
