![Powerful Hurricane Beryl pummels Caribbean islands](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/images/UrduPoint-English-22.png)
Powerful Hurricane Beryl Pummels Caribbean Islands
Sumaira FH Published July 02, 2024 | 11:20 AM
![Powerful Hurricane Beryl pummels Caribbean islands](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/images/UrduPoint-English-22.png)
Bridgetown/St. George's, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Jul, 2024) Hurricane Beryl -- the earliest-ever Category 4 storm in the Atlantic -- swept quickly across several islands in the southeastern Caribbean on Monday, dumping heavy rain and unleashing devastating winds as it churned towards Jamaica.
Carriacou Island, which is part of Grenada, took a direct hit early in the day from the storm's "extremely dangerous eyewall," with sustained winds at upwards of 150 miles (240 kilometers) per hour, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
Nearby islands, including Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, also experienced "catastrophic winds and life-threatening storm surge" according to the NHC.
Video obtained by AFP from St. George's in Grenada showed heavy downpours with trees buffeted by gusts.
"In half an hour, Carriacou was flattened," Grenada's Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell told a press conference.
"We are not yet out of the woods," Mitchell added, noting that while there were no deaths reported so far, he could not say for sure that none had occurred.
Later on social media, Mitchell said the government was working to get relief supplies to both Carriacou and the island of Petite Martinique on Tuesday.
"The state of emergency is still in effect. Remain indoors," he wrote on Facebook.
- Rare early strong storm -
Beryl became the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season on Saturday and quickly strengthened to Category 4.
Experts say that such a powerful storm forming this early in the Atlantic hurricane season -- which runs from early June to late November -- is extremely rare.
It is the first hurricane since NHC records began to reach the Category 4 level in June.
"Only five major (Category 3+) hurricanes have been recorded in the Atlantic before the first week of July," hurricane expert Michael Lowry posted on social media platform X.
Barbados appeared to be spared from the worst of the storm but was still hit with high winds and pelting rain, though officials reported no injuries so far.
Barbados seems to have "dodged a bullet," Minister of Home Affairs and Information Wilfred Abrahams said in an online video, but nonetheless "gusts are still coming, the storm-force winds are still coming" he said.
Homes and businesses were flooded in some areas, and fishing boats were damaged in Bridgetown.
The storm prompted the cancellation of classes on Monday in several of the islands, while a meeting this week in Grenada of the Caribbean regional bloc CARICOM was postponed.
At 0000 GMT Tuesday, the storm was moving away from the Windward Islands and into the Caribbean Sea.
"Beryl is expected to remain an extremely dangerous major hurricane as it moves over the eastern Caribbean" Tuesday, the NHC said, adding that Jamaica had issued a hurricane warning, ahead of the storm's expected arrival on Wednesday.
The NHC also warned the Cayman Islands and areas on the Yucatan Peninsula to monitor the storm's progress.
- Extreme weather -
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.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in late May that it expects this year to be an "extraordinary" 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.
bur-bfm/sst/nro
Related Topics
Recent Stories
![Currency Rate In Pakistan - Dollar, Euro, Pound, R ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/forex-currency-exchange-rates-2.jpg)
Currency Rate In Pakistan - Dollar, Euro, Pound, Riyal Rates On 4 July 2024
![Today Gold Rate in Pakistan 04 July 2024](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/today-gold-prices-in-pakistan-1.jpg)
Today Gold Rate in Pakistan 04 July 2024
![IHC reserves verdict on plea against PEMRA notific ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1720032686.jpg)
IHC reserves verdict on plea against PEMRA notification
![Minister for Finance meets with the CEO of Standar ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1720032731.jpg)
Minister for Finance meets with the CEO of Standard Chartered Bank
![PTI jeopardizes state interests for political gain ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1720032115.jpg)
PTI jeopardizes state interests for political gains: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawa ..
![Disabled friendly T10 cricket match held at the Sh ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1720032114.jpg)
Disabled friendly T10 cricket match held at the Shalimar Cricket Ground Islamaba ..
![Nankana Sahib hosts "Dawat Aman"conference, promot ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1720032112.jpg)
Nankana Sahib hosts "Dawat Aman"conference, promoting interfaith harmony,peace
![Govt ready to dialogue with all political parties: ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1720032110.jpg)
Govt ready to dialogue with all political parties: Afnan Ullah
![DC Murree directs for timely completion of develop ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1720032108.jpg)
DC Murree directs for timely completion of development projects
![All parties to be taken on board on ‘Azm-e-Istek ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1720031499.jpg)
All parties to be taken on board on ‘Azm-e-Istekham’ operation: Rana Sana
![2nd Int’l Moot on ‘Iran-Pakistan Academic-Cult ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1720031497.jpg)
2nd Int’l Moot on ‘Iran-Pakistan Academic-Cultural Dialogue concludes
![Distt admin to speed up action against dengue](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1720031496.jpg)
Distt admin to speed up action against dengue
More Stories From World
-
A station a day on Tokyo's teeming Yamanote Line
9 minutes ago -
French PM urges united front to stop far-right takeover
2 hours ago -
Colombian dens of iniquity recycled to serve victims
2 hours ago -
VP Harris does high-wire act as Biden wobbles
2 hours ago -
Pro-Palestinian group scales Australia's parliament
2 hours ago -
DR Congo sentences 25 soldiers to death for 'fleeing the enemy': lawyer
2 hours ago
-
Mbappe, Ronaldo face off as France and Portugal clash at Euro 2024
2 hours ago -
Labour tipped to oust Tories as campaigning ends in UK election
3 hours ago -
White House says zero chance Biden will withdraw
3 hours ago -
Fires in Brazil's Pantanal push wetlands community to limit
3 hours ago -
History-maker Cavendish eclipses Merckx with 35th Tour de France stage win
3 hours ago -
Messi a doubt for Argentina ahead of Copa quarter-final
4 hours ago