Hurricane Beryl battered Jamaica with high winds and brought life-threatening storm surges and waves as the Category 4 storm brushed the island’s southern coast on Wednesday, authorities said.
Beryl recorded maximum sustained winds of 140 mph and brought hurricane conditions to parts of the Caribbean nation of 2.8 million people, and tropical storm conditions elsewhere, the National Hurricane Center said in a 5 p.m. update.
The storm, which made history as the most powerful hurricane on record in July (before being downgraded to Category 5), was responsible for seven deaths as it devastated parts of the Windward Islands and caused flooding and damage in Venezuela.
Jamaican authorities have urged residents to take the storm seriously and evacuate. No deaths have been reported in the country.
“Hurricane Beryl has brought a lot of water so far,” Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said. said on X“Stay as safe as possible and remember to use emergency contacts if you need to.”
Storm surges of 6 to 9 feet above normal tide levels are expected as the counterclockwise hurricane pushes water onto the Jamaican coast, National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said.
Meanwhile, in the United States, with Beryl’s path uncertain, Texas state officials have warned coastal residents to prepare over the holiday weekend in case tropical weather reaches the U.S. Gulf Coast.
“As Texans take time to enjoy the holiday weekend with family and friends, it is important to stay weather aware, pay close attention to rapidly changing forecasts and not be left without an emergency plan,” Texas Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd said in a statement.
Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday ordered the Texas Division of Emergency Management to issue a hurricane warning to the Texas Emergency Management Council.
Abbott said the state “stands ready to deploy all available resources and support to our coastal communities.”
At least seven people are believed to have died in the storm, which destroyed homes and devastated farms on Caribbean islands.
The small island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines was hit hard, with at least one person dead and more feared injured. In Grenada, where at least three people died, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said many homes had been destroyed and called the storm’s effect “Armageddon-like.” Venezuela was hit by heavy flooding, with at least three people dead and four others missing, the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, said.
In Barbados, the fishing community and coastline have been hit hard, Prime Minister Mia Mottley said. In a video shared on X, large waves could be seen crashing onto the balcony of a hotel in Dover Beach.
On Monday, Beryl strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane and early Tuesday it reached record maximum sustained winds of 165 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center, making it the strongest July hurricane on record.
Beryl continued to weaken as it moved west across the Caribbean Sea toward the Gulf of Mexico — but it is still expected to have or near major hurricane status when it reaches the Cayman Islands, which, like Jamaica, are under a hurricane warning.
The storm is expected to pass near or over the Cayman Islands Wednesday night or Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said.
Although the storm weakened slightly as it approached Jamaica, officials made it clear that this was a major weather event that should not be taken lightly.
“If you live in a low-lying area, an area historically prone to flooding and landslides, or if you live on the edge of a river … I implore you to evacuate to a shelter or safer ground,” Holness, the Jamaican prime minister, said in a video statement Tuesday.
Casey and Warner Haley, of Knoxville, Tennessee, were enjoying their honeymoon after getting married Saturday when they were told they had to retreat to their Montego Bay resort.
“Yesterday morning the weather was perfect. We went snorkeling and kayaking and when we came back the forecast had changed,” Casey, 23, said in a phone interview Wednesday.
The couple said they immediately contacted their travel agent but were told there were no flights available. At the airport, they were told the same thing.
“It was literally an end-of-the-world scenario,” Casey said. “We went to every flight counter, just saying, ‘Hey, can you get us anywhere, especially in the United States, but literally anywhere.’ And they all said, ‘No, we’re all booked.’”
The local grocery store was packed, Casey said, describing the situation as “an absolute frenzy” with lines stretching all the way to the back.
No mandatory evacuations have been ordered at the resort, but a conference room has been opened to allow guests to wait out the hurricane.
Holness said the country’s security forces had plans in place to stop looting and other opportunistic crimes once the hurricane passes.
Fisherman Courtney Howell of Kingston told Reuters that Jamaicans were used to hurricanes.
“Well, this one is more dangerous than the last one. But this one, I’m not afraid of it because I’m used to it and I’ve been through a lot of it. So this one coming now, it’s just another experience,” he said.
By 5 p.m., the center of the hurricane had already passed Kingston and was about 265 miles east-southeast of Grand Cayman, moving west-northwest at 20 mph.
“The Cayman Islands are kind of next in line to see significant impacts,” said Brennan, the hurricane center director.
Storm surge could raise water levels up to 2 to 4 feet above normal tide levels, and rainfall totals could range from 4 to 6 inches, the hurricane center said.
The storm is expected to become a hurricane as it passes over the Yucatan Peninsula on Friday, the agency said, and then move into the Gulf of Mexico and threaten Mexico or southern Texas.
