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Hurricane Beryl ripped through the Caribbean and devastated communities in Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines Monday - with shocking aerial photos showing the widespread damage.
The storm, which broke records as the earliest recorded Category 4 and Category 5 hurricane, is barreling towards Jamaica and the Cayman Islands on Wednesday. From there, it’s expected to hit Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Thursday, before impacting the US over the weekend.
Life-threatening winds and rain have already knocked out power to areas of Jamaica. There are more than 900 shelters across the island and an evacuation process for those in flood-prone and low-lying areas, Information Minister Dana Morris Dixon said as Beryl approached the island.
That was after the storm moved across islands further east, flatting entire towns and leaving at least seven dead.
“Almost total damage or destruction of all buildings, whether they be public buildings, homes or other private facilities,” Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said, according to CBS News. “Complete devastation and destruction of agriculture. Complete and total destruction of the natural environment. There is literally no vegetation left anywhere on the island of Carriacou.”
Meteorologists say the storm will weaken on Wednesday but is expected to remain a major hurricane.
While the storm’s path over the weekend is still uncertain, it has the potential to hit southern Texas and Louisiana overnight Sunday into Monday, according to the National Weather Service.
Before and after: Hurricane Beryl devastates the eastern Caribbean
Grenada’s Petite Martinique island, pictured in May 2023 and on July 2, 2024, just one day after Hurricane Beryl swept through the eastern Caribbean. Grenada suffered “unimaginable” destruction after the storm passed through, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said.
Officials have identified at least three people in Grenada who were killed by the hurricane, including one person who died in St George’s after a tree fell on their home.
St. Vincent and the Grenadine’s Petit St Vincent island, pictured in May 2023 and on July 2, 2024. At least one person died in the nation after Hurricane Beryl slammed into the eastern Caribbean.
The total death toll is at seven as of Wednesday afternoon, with three deaths in Venezuela and four deaths in Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Grenada’s Carriacou Island pictured in May 2023 and on July 2, 2024. The small island was “flattened” within half an hour by Hurricane Beryl on Monday, according to Mitchell. The storm tore off 95 percent of roofs on Carriacou and Petit Martinique.
Argyle, Carriacou, pictured in May 2023 and on July 2, 2024. Mitchell described Carriacou as “armageddon-like” in the wake of Hurricane Beryl with scenes of “almost total destruction.”
“Complete devastation and destruction of agriculture, complete and total destruction of the natural environment,” Mitchell said. “There is literally no vegetation left anywhere on the island of Carriacou.”
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