SEVEN PEOPLE KILLED AS HURRICANE BERYL THUNDERS PAST JAMAICA

At least seven people have died as Hurricane Beryl continues to plough through the Caribbean.

The hurricane was classed as a Category 4 storm when it made landfall on Monday morning, slamming into Barbados, Grenada, and other West Indies islands.

It was upgraded to Category 5 on Tuesday, driven by the Atlantic’s record warmth and devastating winds and storm surge as it made its way towards Jamaica.

While Beryl didn’t make landfall on Jamaica, the eye of the storm was ‘brushing the south coast’ on Wednesday, battering the island with strong winds and heavy rain.

Nearly 500 people were placed in shelters until the worst of the storm passed, with power down across most of its capital city, Kingston.

Prime minister Andrew Holness said on Wednesday afternoon that the island has not seen the ‘worst of what could possibly happen’, adding: ‘We can do as much as we can do, as humanly possible, and we leave the rest in the hands of God.’

And the death toll of the hurricane has been increased to seven after its impact caused significant damage across the south-east Caribbean islands.

Jamaica was placed in a state of emergency hours before Beryl’s impact, which is set to remain in place for the next week.

Its southern coast, where Kingston is located, was hammered by storm surges with coastal water levels rising to six or nine feet (1.8 to 2.7 metres) above normal tide levels in some areas.

Heavy rains of four to eight inches, with up to a foot in isolated areas, threatened flash flooding and mudslides.

Rescue crews in south-eastern islands have fanned out to determine the extent of the damage the hurricane inflicted on Carriacou, an island in Grenada.

Michelle Forbes, the St Vincent and Grenadines director of the National Emergency Management Organisation, said that about 95% of homes in Mayreau and Union Island have been damaged by Hurricane Beryl.

Three people were reported killed in Grenada and Carriacou and another in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

One of the deaths in Grenada happened after a tree fell onto a house amid the strong winds, the island’s environment minister, Kerryne James, said.

Three other deaths were reported in northern Venezuela, up from two, where five people are also missing. Some 25,000 people in that area also were affected by heavy rainfall from Beryl.

Kerryne James, the environment minister said Carriacou and Petit Martinique sustained the greatest damage, with scores of homes and businesses flattened in Carriacou.

Grenadian Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said on Tuesday: ‘The situation is grim. There is no power, and there is almost complete destruction of homes and buildings on the island.

‘The roads are not passable, and in many instances, they are cut off because of the large quantity of debris strewn all over the streets.’

Mr Mitchell added: ‘The possibility that there may be more fatalities remains a grim reality as movement is still highly restricted.’

Ralph Gonsalves, prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, noted that 90% of homes on Union Island were destroyed, and that ‘similar levels of devastation’ were expected on the islands of Myreau and Canouan.

Beryl is forecast to weaken slightly over the next day or two, but still be at or near major-hurricane strength when it passes near the Cayman Islands on Thursday and into Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula late on Thursday or Friday, according to the US National Hurricane Center.

The hurricane is expected to weaken to a tropical storm as it crosses the Yucatan peninsula and re-emerge over the weekend at storm strength into the Gulf of Mexico.

Beryl is then expected to hit Mexican territory a second time in the Gulf coast states of Veracruz or Tamaulipas, near the Texas border.

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2024-07-03T11:31:08Z dg43tfdfdgfd