Hurricane Beryl is heading toward Jamaica and will reach Mexico by Saturday, where the weather is expected to be less intense but still very dangerous.
After causing extensive damage to islands in the Caribbean Sea – resulting in the death of one person and the evacuation of thousands of others in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and Saint Lucia – the hurricane Beryl has further strengthened to reach the Category 5 and is now heading toward Jamaica and Mexico, where it is expected to arrive downgraded to a tropical storm. Local governments have issued a hurricane warning and urged people to seek safe shelter. Before that, torrential rains are also expected to hit Dominica and the islands of Martinique and Tobago.
According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC), Beryl is currently located approximately 840 miles (1,355 kilometers) east-southeast of Kingston with maximum sustained winds of 260 kilometers per hour. “Beryl is now a Category 5 hurricane potentially catastrophic“, reads a note from the NHC. And the fact that it is catastrophic is also demonstrated by the videos and photos that have been circulating in the last few hours, with the roofs of houses torn off by the force of the wind.
Hurricane Beryl’s Path: Jamaica and Mexico Alert
After crossing Jamaica, Beryl will touch Honduras on Friday evening, losing power until reaching Mexico, further downgraded on Saturday, July 8. Strong winds and rain, in particular, will hit the Yucatan Peninsula.
Hurricane Beryl Rises to Category 5, Moves Toward Jamaica, Destruction and Death in the Caribbean
Hurricane to tropical storm: forecast for the next few hours
According to a bulletin from the National Hurricane Center in the United States, the extreme weather phenomenon will cross the Caribbean with a potential for great destructionThis is the first time in history that a hurricane has hit this area of the planet in the month of June: such a powerful storm at the beginning of the hurricane season, which in the Atlantic runs from early June to late November, is in fact considered extremely rare.
What does level 5 hurricane mean?
Meanwhile, the damage caused by Beryl on the island of Grenada has been very heavy. As Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell explained in a press conference, “in half an hour, Carriacou has been razed to the ground“Thousands of people were forced to take shelter in shelters strong enough to withstand the force of the wind, only to find, once the hurricane passed, that many of their homes had been devastated. “It’s not a joke”added St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, reminding the population of the devastation caused by past hurricanes. In a speech from his official residence, Gonsalves himself said he had sought shelter in his basement. “The roof, certainly the old part of the roof, may not withstand 150 mph winds. I am preparing to take shelter,” he said.
Level 5 is the worst-case scenario, where hurricanes cause the greatest damage to buildings and the greatest risks to the population. This was the level, for example, of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which hit the American city of New Orleans and was one of the worst natural disasters in the United States.
