The National Hurricane Center said late Friday afternoon that “major Hurricane Beryl” was moving over the southeastern Caribbean after making landfall on Grenada’s Carriacou Island.
The hurricane will likely bring "potentially catastrophic wind damage" as well as dangerous waves and heavy rain as it moves through the Windward Islands, the center said.
It urged residents of Grenada, the Grenadine Islands and Carriacou Island to shelter in place.
Tropical storm warnings were in effect for Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadine Islands, St. Lucia, Martinique, the south coast of the Dominican Republic from Punta Palenque westward to the border with Haiti, and the south coast of Haiti from the border with the Dominican Republic to Anse d‘Hainault.
Jamaica was under a hurricane watch, with hurricane conditions possibly arriving there on Wednesday.
The National Hurricane Center said earlier Monday that Beryl had again strengthened into a dangerous Category 4 storm before making landfall on Carriacou Island.
There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries, but communications were largely down in the region.
In Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados, cars lined up at gas stations ahead of the storm while shoppers filled supermarkets seeking food, water and other supplies. Some homeowners boarded up their properties.
The hurricane had winds of up to 240 kph when it made landfall on Carriacou.
Beryl has been a compact storm, with hurricane-force winds projecting 55 kilometers (about 34.18 mi) from the center.
It had gained Category 4 strength on Sunday before weakening slightly and then regaining power. Further fluctuations in strength were forecast.
The National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center called the storm “extremely dangerous.”
Beryl grew from a tropical storm to a major hurricane in merely 42 hours, which has happened only six other times in the history of hurricanes in the Atlantic. The hurricane was also the earliest to hit Category 4 status in the region. Hurricane Dennis became a Category 4 storm on July 8, 2005.
“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.
“It's going to be terrible,” said Ralph Gonsalves, prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Hurricane Ivan, the last powerful hurricane that hit the Caribbean, killed dozens in Grenada.
Forecasters predicted a storm surge of up to 3 meters in some areas. They also noted 7.6 to 15 centimeters of rain and possibly 25 centimeters in some regions.
In Barbados, officials had planned controlled electricity shutdowns and were planning for water outages. Schools, airports and government offices were closed.
After the storm passes, drones will be used to assess damage, a much faster process than manual assessment by crews on the ground.
There was also a concern of further thunderstorms — or a possible tropical depression — following the main event.
Beryl was the second named event in the hurricane season for the Atlantic. Tropical Storm Alberto hit northeastern Mexico in June, killing four people.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has warned of an above-average hurricane season.
Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
