STORY: :: Date: July 2, 2024

:: Category 4 Hurricane Beryl could cause

'catastrophic' damage as it passes over Jamaica

:: Michael Brennan, Director of the National Hurricane Center

""Extremely dangerous category four, Hurricane Beryl continuing to move very quickly west northwestward across the Caribbean Sea. You can see the eye of Beryl and satellite imagery currently located to the south of the Dominican Republic, about 420 miles to the east, southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, moving to the west northwest at 22 miles per hour. So very quickly moving towards Jamaica."

:: Michael Brennan, Director of the National Hurricane Center

We could see the potential, obviously, of the core of a major hurricane, category three, potentially, or category four moving across Jamaica with the potential for devastating to catastrophic wind damage wide spread damage to homes, roofs, trees, power lines, infrastructure damage. It could bring widespread power outages. And there's the potential for storm surge of 5 to 8 feet above normal tide levels near and along the coast of Jamaica. Near and to the right of where the center passes by. So that means in places like Kingston, elsewhere in the south coast, bays and harbors could see not just the storm surge above normal tide levels, but potentially devastating wave action on top of that storm surge, creating a life threatening situation as well."

Michael Brennan, the director of the United States National Hurricane Center, warned that Beryl could have catastrophic consequences as it passes over Jamaica. He urged residents on the island's south coast to follow authorities' instructions and seek shelter.

The storm made landfall on Monday, July 1, on Carriacou island, part of Grenada, resulting in one fatality and an island-wide power outage. Another person was reportedly killed in St. Vincent, though Reuters could not immediately verify this.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) stated in a Tuesday briefing that the core of the hurricane is expected to pass over Jamaica on Wednesday, July 3. The storm is anticipated to bring a life-threatening storm surge of five to eight feet above normal levels and cause significant flooding.

Scientists attribute the unusually early timing and rapid intensification of the storm, the first in this year's Atlantic hurricane season, to warmer ocean temperatures.