CNN
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Hurricane Beryl is hitting the Windward Islands as an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane, bringing violent winds, heavy rains and life-threatening storm surges after making landfall on Monday.
It is the strongest known hurricane to pass through this region, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data dating back to 1851.
Beryl made landfall shortly after 11:00 a.m. EDT on Carriacou Island in the Grenadines in the Caribbean Sea with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph. The storm caused power outages, flooded streets and caused severe flooding in parts of the Grenadines, Grenada, Barbados and Tobago on Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Beryl’s arrival marks an exceptionally early start to the Atlantic hurricane season. On Sunday, it became the first Category 4 hurricane ever in the Atlantic and the only Category 4 hurricane in the month of June. Bathtub – warm ocean water The events that led to Beryl’s alarming strengthening are a clear indication that this hurricane season will be far from normal in light of global warming caused by fossil fuel pollution.
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Beryl is breaking records for June because the ocean is now as warm as it usually is at the height of hurricane season, said Jim Kossin, a hurricane expert and science adviser to the nonprofit First Street Foundation.
“Hurricanes don’t know what month it is, they just know their environment,” Kossin told CNN. “Beryl is breaking June records because she thinks it’s September.”
The ocean heat fueling Beryl’s unprecedented enhancement “certainly has a human imprint on it,” Kosen added.
• Beryl is a dangerous hurricane: The storm is located near Carriacou Island, part of Grenada, and has sustained winds of 150 mph and is moving west-northwest at 20 mph. Beryl’s hurricane-force winds extend 40 miles from the center while tropical storm force winds extend about 125 miles.
• Life-threatening storms and floods: National Hurricane Center to caution “A life-threatening storm surge will raise water levels 6 to 9 feet above normal tidal levels” when Beryl makes landfall. Towering waves can also cause life-threatening tidal waves that threaten small vessels and fishermen long after they reach land. Flash flooding is also a concern in parts of the Windward Islands and Barbados. Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley has warned citizens to be “extremely vigilant”.
• Hurricane warnings: Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Tobago. A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Jamaica. Tropical Storm Warnings are in effect for Martinique, Trinidad, and St. Lucia. Tropical Storm Watches are in effect for the southern coast of the Dominican Republic from Punta Palenque westward to the border with Haiti, and the southern coast of Haiti from the border with the Dominican Republic to Anse Daigneault.
• Hundreds evacuated: Ramona Archer Bradshaw, the country’s chief shelter warden, told CNN affiliate CBC News that more than 400 people were sheltering in hurricane shelters across Barbados on Sunday evening. “I’m glad people are using the shelters, and if they’re not comfortable in their homes, they’re better off going to a shelter,” she said.
Ricardo Mazalan/Associated Press
Waves hit palm trees during Hurricane Beryl’s impact on Hastings, Barbados, on Monday.
• State of Emergency in Grenada: Grenada Governor General Cecile LaGrenade has declared a state of emergency that will remain in effect from Sunday night to Tuesday morning. All businesses will have to close except police, hospitals, prisons, landfills and ports.
• Closed airports: Airports in Barbados, Grenada and St. Lucia were closed Sunday night as Beryl approached. A spokesman for Grenada’s Maurice Bishop International Airport said it was expected to reopen Tuesday morning. Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados, Hewanorra International Airport in Saint Lucia and George Charles Airport have also suspended operations.
• Cricket World Cup fans stuck: Barbados is still hosting cricket fans from around the world who have travelled to the island for the T20 World Cup, some of whom will not be able to evacuate before Beryl arrives. “Our visitors are here with us. Some of them will not leave until Monday and Tuesday, some of them have never been through a hurricane or a storm before,” said Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, appealing to residents to support the visitors, if possible.
Ricardo Mazalan/AFP
Hurricane Beryl flooded a street in Hastings, Barbados, on Monday.
This season is already off to a busy start as the second storm — Tropical Storm Chris — made landfall near Tuxpan, Mexico off the Gulf Coast early Monday.
Hurricane Beryl is a worrying start to a hurricane season that meteorologists have warned will be hyperactive — and Beryl’s record-breaking activity may be a sign of what’s to come.
Beryl is the first major hurricane — defined as a Category 3 or higher hurricane — in the Atlantic Ocean in 58 years. Rapid intensification of a storm is very unusual this early in the hurricane season, according to National Hurricane Center Director Mike Brennan. Tropical systems in the mid-Atlantic east of the Lesser Antilles in June are rare, especially strong systems, as only a few tropical systems have formed. According to NOAA records.
Not only was the storm early in the season, it is now the third-oldest major hurricane in the Atlantic. The first was Hurricane Alma on June 8, 1966, followed by Hurricane Audrey, which reached major hurricane status on June 27, 1957.
Hurricane Beryl also set the record for the easternmost hurricane to form in the tropical Atlantic in June, beating the previous record set in 1933.
The central and eastern Atlantic typically becomes more active in August, in part because ocean temperatures have enough time to warm and feed developing systems.
However, this year the Atlantic Basin saw higher-than-normal water temperatures and a decrease in wind shear due to the transition from an El Niño to a La Niña season, both of which fuel tropical development.
“Beryl found an environment with very warm ocean waters for this time of year,” Brennan said.
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These systems forming early in the summer in this part of the Atlantic are a sign of the upcoming active hurricane season, according to Search from Normally, ocean temperatures are not warm enough in June and July to help tropical systems thrive.
National Weather Service Meteorologists predict This season is expected to witness between 17 and 25 named storms, 13 of which have become hurricanes.
“This is well above average,” Brennan noted.
CNN’s Monica Jarrett, Jane Norman, Michael Rios, Marlon Sorto, Sandy Sidhu, Melissa Alonso, Isaac Yee, Eric Zirkle, Rachel Ramirez and Brandon Miller contributed to this report.
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