Hurricane Beryl ripped through the Caribbean and devastated communities in Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines Monday – with shocking aerial photos showing the widespread damage.
The storm, which broke records as the earliest recorded Category 4 and Category 5 hurricane, is barreling towards Jamaica and the Cayman Islands on Wednesday. From there, it’s expected to hit Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Thursday, before impacting the US over the weekend.
Life-threatening winds and rain have already knocked out power to areas of Jamaica. There are more than 900 shelters across the island and an evacuation process for those in flood-prone and low-lying areas, Information Minister Dana Morris Dixon said as Beryl approached the island.
That was after the storm moved across islands further east, flatting entire towns and leaving at least seven dead.
“Almost total damage or destruction of all buildings, whether they be public buildings, homes or other private facilities,” Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said, according to CBS News. “Complete devastation and destruction of agriculture. Complete and total destruction of the natural environment. There is literally no vegetation left anywhere on the island of Carriacou.”
Meteorologists say the storm will weaken on Wednesday but is expected to re a major hurricane.
While the storm’s path over the weekend is still uncertain, it has the potential to hit southern Texas and Louisiana overnight Sunday into Monday, according to the National Weather Service.
Before and after: Hurricane Beryl devastates the eastern Caribbean
Grenada’s Petite Martinique island, pictured in May 2023 and on July 2, 2024, just one day after Hurricane Beryl swept through the eastern Caribbean. Grenada suffered “unimaginable” destruction after the storm passed through, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said.
Officials have identified at least three people in Grenada who were killed by the hurricane, including a relative of a government official who died in St George’s after a tree collapsed on them.
“This hits home,” Mitchell said. “The deceased person is in fact the relative of one of the persons who spent the last 36 hours with us here at the National Emergency Operating Center.”
St. Vincent and the Grenadine’s Petit St Vincent island, pictured in May 2023 and on July 2, 2024. At least one person died in the nation after Hurricane Beryl slammed into the eastern Caribbean. Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said there may be more fatalities reported in the coming days as an islandwide blackout affects the nation.
“There are a few communities which do not have water because of the system having been blocked,” Gonsalves said.
“The faces of our men and women are strained and anxious,” he continued. “But tomorrow, we get up with the conviction to rebuild our individual lives and our family’s lives. To rebuild our country, to recover.”
The hurricane’s total death toll is at seven as of Wednesday afternoon, with three deaths in Venezuela and four deaths in Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Grenada’s Carriacou Island pictured in May 2023 and on July 2, 2024. The small island was “flattened” within half an hour by Hurricane Beryl on Monday, according to Mitchell.
The storm tore off 95 percent of roofs on Carriacou and Petit Martinique. Carriacou Island also saw an “almost complete destruction” of the electrical grid, according to the prime minister.
“The entire communication system is completely destroyed…many people have lost their entire homes,” Mitchell said.
Argyle, Carriacou, pictured in May 2023 and on July 2, 2024. Mitchell described Carriacou as “armageddon-like” in the wake of Hurricane Beryl with scenes of “almost total destruction.”
“Complete devastation and destruction of agriculture, complete and total destruction of the natural environment,” Mitchell said. “There is literally no vegetation left anywhere on the island of Carriacou.”
United Nations officials in Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines are working closely with local leaders to help with recovery efforts.
Secretary General Antonio Guterres has asked for the international community to “show solidarity” with all the Caribbean countries in Hurricane Beryl’s path, a UN spokesperson said.
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