Hurricane Beryl strengthened as it made landfall in the Caribbean’s Windward Islands on Monday, authorities said, threatening devastating flooding and storm surges as powerful and potentially deadly winds gathered speed.
“Beryl is expected to remain an extremely dangerous major hurricane when it makes landfall in the Windward Islands this morning,” the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory. Authorities urged residents to heed any evacuation orders or other preparedness guidance.
People across a vast area of the Eastern Caribbean closed shops, stockpiled food and fuel as the storm approached.
Beryl’s rapid rise marks an unusually violent and early start to this year’s Atlantic hurricane season — the earliest Category 4 storm on record, according to NHC data.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said he expected a natural disaster that could last for days.
In the capital Kingston, conditions around the main port worsened on Monday morning (1st), with reports of some damage to building roofs caused by the intensifying winds.
At Category 4 on the five-point Saffir-Simpson scale, Beryl has maximum sustained wind speeds of 209 kilometers per hour.
The storm is located about 90 miles (145 km) southeast of St. Vincent. It is moving west-northwest at 20 mph (32 km/h) and is expected to cross many of the most populated islands in the central Caribbean by Wednesday (3) as it heads toward the Gulf of Mexico, the NHC added.
Hurricane warnings were in effect for Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and Tobago.
A tropical storm warning was issued for Martinique, Trinidad and Saint Lucia, with other storm warnings also issued for parts of the Dominican Republic and parts of Haiti.
The hurricane is expected to bring 8 to 15 centimeters of rain to Barbados and the Windward Islands throughout the day on Monday (1st), with some areas seeing up to 25 centimeters, especially in the Grenadines and Grenada.
In May, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted above-normal hurricane activity in the Atlantic this year due in large part to near-record ocean temperatures.
Rare phenomenon
It’s rare for tropical systems to form and track east of the Lesser Antilles in June. The fact that this one formed so early in the season — and in this part of the Atlantic — is a sign of the hyperactive hurricane season ahead, according to research by Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane expert and research scientist at Colorado State University.
Typically, ocean temperatures are not warm enough in this region in June and July to help tropical systems thrive. That is not the case this year, and is one reason behind the record-breaking hurricane season forecasts for the past few months. Ocean temperatures remain near their highest levels compared to this time last year. These levels are most common in August and September.
Warmer waters
This is a small slice of a bigger problem. Ocean temperatures around the world and in the Atlantic have been at record highs for more than a year, driven by planet-warming fossil fuel pollution and partly by El Niño.
This hurricane is not alone. There are two other areas being monitored by the National Hurricane Center, including one in the same area of the Atlantic where the hurricane formed and another in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico.
Both tropical systems have low probabilities of developing during the next week, but given the unusual early season action and favorable ocean temperatures, they will need to be watched closely.
The National Hurricane Center is forecasting above-normal activity this year, with 17 to 25 named storms, including 8 to 13 hurricanes. Up to 7 of those could be major hurricanes.
Source: CNN Brasil
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