Hurricane Beryl Tracker: Jamaica braces for Category 4 storm, death toll rises to 7
![Hurricane Beryl Tracker: Jamaica braces for Category 4 storm, death toll rises to 7 Hurricane Beryl Tracker: Jamaica braces for Category 4 storm, death toll rises to 7](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/07/02/20/SEI211286000.jpg?quality=75&width=1200&auto=webp)
Hurricane Beryl is racing toward Jamaica as a Category 4 storm with winds of 250 km/h after cutting its deadly path through Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, destroying buildings and killing at least seven people.
Beryl intensified overnight into the Atlantic’s earliest Category 5 storm before weakening to a Category 4 on Tuesday. The storm reached the Leeward Islands on Monday, where it “razed” the island of Carriacou within half an hour, Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said.
Hurricane Beryl has killed at least seven people: three in Grenada, three in northern Venezuela and one in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. One of the victims died in Grenada’s capital when a tree fell on his house, Mitchell said.
This evening, the Category 4 storm will bring a storm surge of up to one meter to Hispaniola.
Hurricane Beryl will make landfall in Jamaica, which is currently under a hurricane warning, on Wednesday. Residents of the Cayman Islands are also preparing for Hurricane Beryl, which is expected to arrive Thursday evening. The storm will likely maintain its strength along its path.
According to forecasts from the National Weather Service, the Category 4 hurricane could also hit Texas this weekend.
Satellite images: Hurricane Beryl moves through the Caribbean Sea
![](https://cdn.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES16/ABI/SECTOR/taw/GEOCOLOR/GOES16-TAW-GEOCOLOR-900x540.gif)
Katie HawkinsJuly 3, 2024 07:00
Death toll from Hurricane Beryl 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.
![Residents try to rescue their belongings from their flooded homes after a river swelled due to heavy rains following the passage of Hurricane Beryl on the road from Cumana to Cumanacoa in Sucre state, Venezuela.](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/07/03/06/GettyImages-2159768971.jpg)
Stuti MishraJuly 3, 2024 06:21
Video: Hurricane Beryl hits Bridgetown, Barbados
Katie HawkinsJuly 3, 2024 06:00
St Vincent and the Grenadines suffer ‘horrific’ damage, says Prime Minister
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.”
Stuti MishraJuly 3, 2024 05:35
President Biden speaks about extreme weather and climate crisis
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.
![A man looks at damaged fishing boats after Hurricane Beryl swept across Barbados](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/07/02/11/APTOPIX_Barbados_Tropical_Weather_66434.jpg)
Katie HawkinsJuly 3, 2024 05:01
X called AccuWeather’s Hurricane Beryl map misinformation, and meteorologists fear it could cost lives
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.
Katie HawkinsJuly 3, 2024 04:00
Video: Hurricane Beryl hits Bridgetown, Barbados
Katie HawkinsJuly 3, 2024 03:00
In pictures: Devastation in Bequia after Hurricane Beryl
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.
Katie HawkinsJuly 3, 2024 02:00
Hurricane Beryl was the earliest Category 5 hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic
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.
Katie HawkinsJuly 3, 2024 01:00
Watch: Plane flies into the eye of Hurricane Beryl
Katie HawkinsJuly 3, 2024 00:00