Hurricane Beryl has struck Jamaica after leaving a trail of destruction in Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines, with at least seven deaths reported across the region. The category 4 storm hit Jamaica's southern coast on Wednesday afternoon, packing maximum sustained winds of 140mph (225km/h) and causing widespread damage.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness warned that the worst was yet to come, urging residents in high-risk areas to evacuate. Almost 500 people had taken shelter by Wednesday afternoon. “We have not seen the worst of what could happen,” Holness said. “We can do as much as we can do, as [is] humanly possible, and we leave the rest in the hands of God.”
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned of life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides across Jamaica and southern Haiti, with dangerous storm surges expected in the Cayman Islands. Jamaica's disaster office warned of storm surges up to 2.75 metres (9ft). A hurricane warning was in effect for Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac.
In Grenada, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell described “Armageddon-like” scenes on the island of Carriacou, where approximately 98% of buildings were damaged or destroyed. “Complete devastation and destruction of agriculture, complete and total destruction of the natural environment,” he said. In St Vincent and the Grenadines, about 90% of housing was destroyed on Union Island, with evacuees arriving by ferry in Kingstown.
Beryl became the earliest category 5 hurricane on record in the Atlantic, peaking with 165mph winds before weakening slightly. Its rapid intensification was linked to unusually warm sea temperatures, attributed to global heating. The storm also caused three deaths in Venezuela, where Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez was injured by a falling tree.
