Hurricane Beryl, the record-breaking storm that killed at least six people in the Caribbean, weakened slightly Tuesday as it headed toward Jamaica, but remains a major Category 4 storm with life-threatening winds and high storm surges.
The storm, which could hit Jamaica directly or pass near it on Wednesday, was a Category 5 storm with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph — making it the strongest July hurricane ever recorded, surpassing Emily from 2015, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Winds had dropped to 155 mph on Tuesday. But National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said winds would slow very slowly, and that Beryl would be a major hurricane when it passes over or near Jamaica.
“Beryl remains a very powerful Category 4 hurricane,” he said at a news briefing on Tuesday, describing the storm as extremely dangerous.
The storm’s center was about 420 miles east-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and passed south of the Dominican Republic and Haiti at 5 p.m. EDT Tuesday. It was moving west-northwest at 22 mph, and Jamaica will feel tropical storm-force winds early Wednesday, then hurricane conditions, The National Hurricane Center said in a bulletin:.
Three people were killed in Grenada, Two killed in northeastern Venezuela One person was killed in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, officials said. In Grenada, two people died on Carriacou Island, which was hit by the eye of the hurricane on Monday, and one person was killed by a falling tree on the island of Grenada.
Grenada Prime Minister Deacon Mitchell said there were several downed power lines and roads that were no longer usable due to debris.
“The situation is bleak. There is no port. There is almost complete destruction of homes and buildings on the island,” Deacon said.
Jamaica has issued a hurricane warning, and Prime Minister Andrew Holness has urged people to prepare. Find higher, safer ground, be prepared and don’t wait.
“We are facing an imminent disaster and we have to treat it with the seriousness that it requires,” Holness said. “We will be subject to some adverse weather effects, whether it is a direct hit or a passing hit… so everyone needs to be mentally alert now.”
The hurricane is expected to approach the Cayman Islands on Thursday after passing near or over Jamaica on Wednesday, before reaching the Yucatan Peninsula overnight.
Storm tides in Jamaica could reach 5 to 8 feet above normal tide levels, with up to 12 inches of rain possible there and on the southwestern Haiti Peninsula through Wednesday. In the Cayman Islands, where a hurricane warning is also in effect, storm tides could raise water levels 2 to 4 feet above normal.
The southern coast of Haiti was under a hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning, and the southern coast of the Dominican Republic was also under a tropical storm warning.
“We are very concerned about Jamaica as we anticipate the core of a major hurricane will pass near or over the island during the day tomorrow,” National Hurricane Center Director Brennan said Tuesday.
Beryl’s effects could even reach the continental United States, with minor coastal flooding in southeast Texas or southwest Louisiana, according to the agency. National Weather Service Field Office in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Additional impacts are possible if the hurricane moves further north than expected.
In Grenada, officials were working to restore communications destroyed by the storm.
“We have lost approximately 95% of the roofs of homes and dwellings in Petite Martinique and Carriacou,” Arthur Pierre, deputy coordinator of the Grenada Emergency Management Agency, said in a video briefing on Tuesday.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said the storm had left “enormous devastation.”
“Union Island has been devastated,” he said, adding that reports he had received indicated that 90 percent of the homes were severely damaged or completely destroyed.
Beryl is the first Category 4 or higher hurricane to develop in June and the earliest Category 4 storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. It is also the strongest hurricane to pass through the Windward Islands, which include Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, and Martinique.
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