Hurricane Beryl Tracker: Jamaica braces for Category 4 storm, death toll rises to 7

Venezuela has reported a third death, bringing the death toll from Hurricane Beryl to at least seven.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced on Tuesday that the dead were two men and a woman from the northeastern city of Cumanacoa in the state of Sucre.

“May they rest in peace. Our sincere condolences and sympathy go out to their families. I have ordered the families to receive my full support,” Maduro said.

Elsewhere, four people died – one in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and three more in Grenada – when Beryl swept across the islands on Monday evening.

According to the President, four people are still missing and 8,000 houses have been affected, 400 of which are completely destroyed.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines suffered “appalling” damage amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars following Hurricane Beryl, the Prime Minister said.

“This is a terrible hurricane,” Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, told Al Jazeera, adding that homes, schools and health facilities were without electricity and some parts had no drinking water.

“On the main island of St. Vincent we have suffered significant damage, horrific damage, but not to the extent of the devastation in the southern part,” he said on Tuesday.

“The damage and loss could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars.”

As Hurricane Beryl rages through the Caribbean Sea, President Joe Biden spoke about the impacts of the climate crisis.

“Anyone who willfully denies the impacts of climate change is condemning the American people to a dangerous future and is either really, really stupid or has some other motive,” Biden said Tuesday afternoon.

Record-high ocean temperatures gave Hurricane Beryl the strength to develop from a tropical depression to a Category 4 storm within a matter of days.

While natural weather patterns like La Niña can contribute to devastating storms like Hurricane Beryl, the human-caused climate crisis still plays a role, with the oceans absorbing over 90 percent of the excess heat generated by greenhouse gases.

High water temperatures can contribute to sea level rise and harm marine life, and can also encourage strong storms like Hurricane Beryl. According to NOAA, ocean temperatures are likely to continue to rise even if we reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

AccuWeather meteorologists say X labeled Hurricane Beryl’s predicted path as “false information” but allowed other obvious misinformation on the website – a decision that could cost lives.

At least six people have died as Hurricane Beryl sweeps through the eastern Caribbean.

When Hurricane Beryl hit Bequia, the largest island in the Grenadines, it destroyed homes and knocked out power.

At least one person died on the island as a result of the storm, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said on Monday. The hurricane also damaged or destroyed 90 percent of the houses on Union Island.

Hurricane Beryl has now broken two historic records in the Atlantic.

Beryl was declared the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record in the Atlantic after strengthening late Monday, the National Hurricane Center said. The previous title was held by Hurricane Emily, which reached Category 5 on July 16, 2005.

As Beryl approached the eastern Caribbean over the weekend, it was also classified as the earliest Category 4 hurricane on record. It was also the only Category 4 hurricane in June.

In this category, Beryl beat Hurricane Dennis, which became a Category 4 storm on July 8, 2005.

The deadly storm weakened to Category 4 strength Tuesday afternoon. It is now racing toward Jamaica, where authorities are warning residents to quickly complete life-saving shelter-in-place measures.