Powerful hurricane “Beryl” struck several smaller islands in the southeast Caribbean a few days ago and ravaged the southern coast of Jamaica on Wednesday (July 3), bringing destructive strong winds and rainfall to the region. This unusually early super strong hurricane has already claimed at least 10 lives.
According to media reports, on Wednesday, the southern coast of Jamaica was directly hit by the “eyewall” of Beryl, causing severe damage to local communities, road damage near the coast, and widespread power outages across the country. By Wednesday night, nearly a thousand residents had been evacuated to shelters.
Richard Thompson, acting director of Jamaica’s disaster relief agency, stated in an interview with local media that a woman in the Hanover parish of Jamaica died when a large tree collapsed on her home.
In addition, other confirmed casualties so far include at least 3 individuals each from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, and Venezuela. However, as communication facilities in affected areas gradually recover, the death toll is expected to rise further.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) of the United States reported that on Wednesday night, the eye of the hurricane was about 100 miles (161 kilometers) west of the Jamaican capital, Kingston, with maximum sustained winds of 130 miles per hour (209 kilometers per hour). It is currently moving towards the Cayman Islands and is expected to make landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico earlier on Friday.
According to the information released by the NHC, Beryl’s intensity is expected to weaken in the next one to two days, but it is expected to remain at or near major hurricane strength as it passes through the Cayman Islands.
Beryl is the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season and the earliest Category 4 hurricane on record to form in June in the Atlantic, as well as the earliest to intensify to Category 5 in July.