Hurricane Beryl heads for Jamaica as death toll rises, destruction spreads Reuters
Written by Zahra Burton and Harold Isaac
KINGSTON/PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – The center of Hurricane Beryl roared toward Jamaica on Wednesday, after uprooting trees, tearing off roofs and destroying farms as it made a destructive, waterlogged path across the small Caribbean islands.
The death toll from the powerful Category 4 storm has risen to at least seven, but is expected to rise even further as communications come back online on wet islands devastated by flooding and deadly winds.
“Everything is destroyed, there is nothing else on Palm Island,” said Katie Rosiak, general manager of the Palm Island Resort in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, one of the most affected areas in the eastern Caribbean.
“We need help from everyone,” he said in a brief phone call, declining to confirm that a hotel worker had been killed.
The loss of life and damage caused by Beryl underscores the effects of a warming Atlantic Ocean, which scientists cite as a sign of human-caused climate change causing extreme weather that confounds past experience.
In Jamaica’s capital, Kingston, worried motorists lined up at petrol stations, as others gathered essentials.
“People are worried and they keep buying and buying,” said Andre, a salesman at a local store, without revealing his full name.
Jamaicans are expecting power outages later Wednesday, according to a power company official, with roads near the coast already washed away as the rain continues to fall.
By Wednesday afternoon, the center of the storm was located 121 kilometers southeast of Kingston, according to the US National Hurricane Center, although its outer rings had already hit much of the populated island. 3 million.
Beryl packs maximum sustained winds of 145 miles per hour (233 kph).
“Life-threatening flooding and mudslides caused by heavy rains are expected over much of Jamaica and southern Haiti through today,” the NHC said in a post, adding that dangerous winds and a strong storm are expected in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands through Thursday. .
Overnight in Haiti as Beryl’s influence continued to grow, residents eagerly awaited its outcome.
“We were uncomfortable. We couldn’t sleep normally with air and water. Many people were sleeping in the yard,” said Pouchon Jean-Francois, who lives in an improvised camp in Port-au-Prince.
The vice president of Venezuela was injured while inspecting the area south of Beryl on Tuesday night, where the Manzanares river in the province of Sucre erupted.
President Nicolas Maduro has confirmed the injuries caused by a falling tree to his second in command, as well as head injuries to senior officials accompanying him, after heavy rain hit the Caribbean country’s coast.
“It could be a disaster,” Maduro told state television on Tuesday night, adding that three people were dead and four were missing in the area, and more than 8,000 homes had been damaged by the heavy rains, including at least 400 destroyed.
The unusually early storm intensified at a record speed, which scientists say is likely fueled by climate change.
Beryl is the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season and the first hurricane on record to reach the top category on the five-category Saffir-Simpson scale.
Additional accidents confirmed so far include at least one in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, where Union Island has lost more than 90% of its buildings, according to the prime minister.
In Grenada, the prime minister described “Armageddon-like” conditions of powerlessness and widespread destruction, while also confirming the deaths of three people.
Beyond the near-term impact on Jamaica and Haiti, the NHC warned that Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, dotted with popular tourist resorts, was in Beryl’s path Thursday night.
In Mexico’s top city, Cancun, officials said the boards used to protect doors and windows were shrinking as locals and tourists braced for Beryl’s arrival.
