Hurricane Beryl is roaring toward Jamaica, with islanders scrambling to make preparations after the category four storm killed at least seven people and caused significant damage in the south-east Caribbean.
The death toll is widely expected to rise as communications come back online across drenched islands damaged by flooding and deadly winds.
As Beryl barrelled through the Caribbean Sea, rescue crews in the south-eastern islands fanned out to determine the extent of the damage the hurricane inflicted on Carriacou, an island in Grenada.
Three people were reportedly killed in Grenada and Carriacou — and another in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, officials said.
Two other deaths were reported in northern Venezuela, where five people are missing.
About 25,000 people in that area are also affected by heavy rainfall from the hurricane.
One death in Grenada occurred after a tree fell on to a house, Environment Minister Kerryne James said.
She said Carriacou and Petit Martinique sustained the greatest damage, with scores of homes and businesses flattened in Carriacou.
Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said on Tuesday there was no power, roads were impassable and the possible rise of the death toll "remains a grim reality".
He called the scenes "Armageddon-like", noting the small islands Carriacou and Petite Martinique bore the brunt of the destruction.
"Everything is destroyed, there's nothing else in Palm Island," said Katie Rosiak, the general manager of the Palm Island Resort in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, one of the hardest-hit areas in the eastern Caribbean.
"We need some help for everybody," she said in a brief phone call.
Grenada, known as the "spice isle" is one of the world's top exporters of nutmeg.
Mr Mitchell said the bulk of the spices are grown in the northern part of the country, which was hit hardest by Beryl.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves has promised to rebuild the archipelago.
He noted 90 per cent of homes on Union Island were destroyed, and that "similar levels of devastation" were expected on the islands of Mayreau and Canouan.
"The hurricane has come and gone, and it has left in its wake immense destruction," Mr Gonsalves said.
Beryl weakened to category four, still destructive
Hurricane Beryl jumped from a category one to a category four hurricane in under 10 hours, becoming the fastest-developing Atlantic season category five hurricane on record when it was categorised on Monday.
It marks the 2024 Atlantic season's first hurricane.
It peaked at winds of 270 kilometres per hour on Tuesday before weakening to a still-destructive category four hurricane.
Christopher Rozoff, an atmospheric scientist at the US-based National Center for Atmospheric Research, says global warming has pushed temperatures in the North Atlantic to record highs — causing more evaporation, which fuels more intense hurricanes featuring higher wind speeds.
Forecasts predict Beryl will weaken further over the next day or two, but it will still hit Jamaica with major-hurricane strength when it passes over the island at midday local time.
Warnings out for Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Mexico
US National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan says Jamaica appears to be in the direct path of Beryl.
Early on Wednesday, the storm was about 300 kilometres east-south-east of Kingston.
It had maximum sustained winds of 230 kilometres per hour and was moving west-north-west at 31 kilometres per hour, the US National Hurricane Center said.
Beryl is expected to bring life-threatening winds, heavy rainfall and a storm surge of 1.8 to 2.7 metres above typical tide levels to Jamaica, where officials warn residents in flood-prone areas to prepare for evacuation.
"I am encouraging all Jamaicans to take the hurricane as a serious threat," Prime Minister Andrew Holness said in a public address on Tuesday.
"It is, however, not a time to panic."
Mr Brennan urged residents to find a safe place to hunker down and shelter.
"We are most concerned about Jamaica, where we are expecting the core of a major hurricane to pass near or over the island," he said in an online briefing.
The centre predicts Beryl's path will pass over Jamaica, then pass the Cayman Islands on Thursday.
Alongside the hurricane warning for Jamaica, warnings have been issued for Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac.
After passing the Cayman Islands, Beryl is expected to push into Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula on Friday.
Mexico's defence ministry said the army, air force, and national guard had activated emergency response protocols in the three Yucatán states — with 120 shelters opened and nearly 4,900 troops on guard on the peninsula.
A hurricane watch has been issued for Haiti's southern coast and the Yucatán's east coast.
Belize has issued a tropical storm watch stretching south from its border with Mexico to Belize City.
A tropical storm warning has been issued for the entire southern coast of Hispaniola, an island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
The last strong hurricane to hit the south-east Caribbean was Hurricane Ivan 20 years ago, which killed dozens of people in Grenada.
AP/Reuters/ABC
