- Author, Nick Davis
- Role, BBC News, Kingston
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Hundreds of thousands of homes in Jamaica are without power after Hurricane Beryl hit the island’s southern coast on Wednesday night.
The category four storm – one of the most powerful to ever hit the country – brought more than 12 hours of heavy rain, raising concerns about flash flooding.
An island-wide curfew was extended until 6 a.m. local time (1100 GMT) on Thursday, and while the hurricane warning was canceled, it was replaced by a flash flood warning.
Once the sun comes up and the curfew is lifted, residents will be able to go out and get a real sense of the damage.
Beryl has now weakened to a category three storm and is heading toward the Cayman Islands and southern Mexico, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) reports.
Hurricane Beryl’s predicted path
But it left a trail of devastation across the Caribbean and killed at least seven people.
Here in Kingston, the capital, the winds were extremely strong, but not as violent as expected. But the heavy rains that are hitting farmland are a real cause for concern, especially in flooded areas.
A resident of a rural farming community told Reuters news agency: “It’s terrible. Everything is gone. I’m at home and I’m scared.”
“It’s a disaster,” said Amoy Wellington, who lives in the southern parish of St. Elizabeth.
On Wednesday evening, I was able to go outside briefly to move my car away from the overhanging trees.
A full-length mirror stood next to the car – it had probably been blown off someone’s balcony, a reminder that unexpected objects suddenly become missiles in such strong winds.
Energy supplier JPS said 65% of its customers, or around 400,000, were without power on Thursday morning.
The hurricane dealt “a very devastating blow” to parts of the island, the St Elizabeth South Western MP said.
In a message posted on X, Floyd Green said that in his constituency, “a significant number of roofs [have been] lost, houses destroyed, trees uprooted, street lamps down, almost all the roads are impassable.
Caribbean media reports that the UN has released $4 million (£3.1 million) from its emergency response fund to help with reconstruction in Jamaica, Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness thanked “first responders, essential services, security forces and good Samaritans who have helped others during this time of crisis” on his X account.
“This storm will pass and we will recover,” he said.
Beryl is now heading toward the Cayman Islands, where “strong winds, dangerous storm surges and destructive waves are expected,” the NHC warned.
The islands’ tourism minister, Kenneth Bryan, told the BBC that while most people will be able to withstand the winds, flood waters are also the main concern.
Hurricane Beryl has already caused extensive damage in Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and northern Venezuela. At least seven people have lost their lives.
The storm shocked meteorologists by how quickly it intensified: it took just 42 hours for it to go from a tropical depression to a major hurricane.
Additional reporting by Alex Smith and Tiffany Wertheimer
