Hurricane Beryl Approaches Jamaica as It Rages Through the Caribbean: NPR

Hurricane Beryl is barreling toward Jamaica as a Category 4 storm after leaving a trail of destruction across several islands in the southeastern Caribbean.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Wednesday morning that Beryl is expected to move quickly across the central Caribbean Sea and “pass near or over Jamaica later today.”

Hurricane conditions are expected to reach Jamaica's coast around noon, with strong winds expected in the morning complicating outdoor preparations.

Beryl, with peak sustained winds of nearly 145 miles per hour, remains dangerous despite being downgraded to a Category 5 on Tuesday. It killed at least six people, knocked out power, destroyed buildings and blocked roads as it tore through Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Associated Press.

“The good news is that Beryl has weakened a little bit,” NHC Director Michael Brennan said in a recent interview. Tuesday video update“But those peak winds will only diminish very slowly over the next few days, and we still expect Beryl to be a strong major hurricane when it reaches Jamaica.”

The NHC warns that Beryl could drop four to eight inches (20 to 20 centimeters) of rain in Jamaica through Wednesday evening, and as much as a foot (30 centimeters) in some places, and that storm surge could raise water levels as much as nine feet (2.7 meters) above normal tide levels.

All three of Jamaica's international airports Are closed on wednesdayand officials say the island's electricity and water supplies are likely to be cutdisabled as a precaution to prevent fire and protect equipment.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness has a “large disaster area“and implemented a curfew on the entire island from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time, based on what he called the “strength, path and potential threat” posed by Beryl.

“This is to ensure the safety of everyone during the passage of the storm and to prevent any movement with the intention of carrying out criminal activities,” Holness said in an Instagram video.

The NHC has issued a hurricane warning for Jamaica and all three Cayman Islands. The storm's center is expected to pass there Wednesday night or Thursday morning, before moving across Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula on Friday.

Jamaica's size—at about 146 miles (235 kilometers) long and 51 miles (82 kilometers) wide at its widest point—makes the country an unlikely target for a direct hurricane. two hurricanes have made landfall there in the past 40 years, CNN notes: Sandy in 2012 and Gilbert in 1988.

Caribbean islands assess extensive damage

Family members inspect their home that was destroyed by Hurricane Beryl on Tuesday in Ottley Hall, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Lucanus Ollivierre/AP

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Lucanus Ollivierre/AP

Beryl has already wreaked havoc in several countries in the eastern Caribbean. Photos of the worst-hit islands showing roofs torn off buildingsfishing boats torn apart and roads flooded with water and sand.

The worst damage appears to have occurred in Carriacou and Petite Martinique, two small islands in Grenada.

Officials said about 98% of buildings on the islands, home to some 6,000 people, were damaged or destroyed, including Carriacou's main health facility, the New York TimesSo far, three storm-related deaths have been confirmed there, according to the AP.

“The potential for further deaths remains a grim reality as movement remains severely restricted,” Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell told a news conference on Tuesday.

Two more deaths have been reported in Venezuela's northern state of Sucre, where authorities said Five other people are still missing and a total of 25,000 people have been affected by the heavy rains, gusty winds and river flooding in the outer reaches of the storm.

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was injured after being hit by a falling tree while visiting one of the affected cities. CNN reports.

The country of St. Vincent and the Grenadines was also badly hit. Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves announced at a press conference that 90% of the homes on Union Island, which is about 5 kilometers long and home to some 3,000 people, were damaged or destroyed.

“The roof of the Union Island airport is gone,” Gonsalves said, according to CBS News“It is no more.”

As the damage is assessed and repaired, offers of help are pouring in.

President Biden said during a Press conference Tuesday that “people on the affected islands and in the communities are in our prayers, and we stand ready to provide them with assistance.”

The Washington, DC-based nonprofit World Central Kitchen also announced on Tuesday that teams are being mobilized to distribute food — starting with sandwiches — to people in need in the region, including Antigua, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

As Beryl heads toward the Gulf of Mexico, Texas could be in danger

A chart from the National Hurricane Center shows the expected arrival time of Hurricane Beryl's strong winds, which are expected to hit eastern parts of Mexico and Texas this weekend.

National Hurricane Center

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National Hurricane Center

As Jamaicans brace for the storm, countries in the northwestern Caribbean and western Gulf of Mexico are being warned that they could be next as Beryl moves west.

The NHC expects Beryl to continue moving west as a hurricane, although the hurricane may weaken somewhat over the next day.

Tropical storms are expected to form along the southern coast of Hispaniola on Wednesday, and may also develop along the coast of Belize beginning Thursday or early Friday.

Hurricane conditions are possible along parts of the eastern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula from Thursday evening.

In the US, officials are urging residents along the Texas coast to “keep an eye on the Gulf this holiday week.”

Texas Department of Emergency Management announced on tuesday that residents and visitors to coastal areas should take into account local warnings and have a plan ready in bad weather, especially at weekends.

“As Texas residents take time to enjoy the long weekend with family and friends, it is important to stay informed about the weather, closely monitor rapidly changing forecasts and not be left without an emergency plan,” said Nim Kidd, chief of Texas Emergency Management.

Meteorologist Eric Berger said Houston Public Media While Beryl's potential impact on the central Texas coast is still uncertain, it is unlikely to have the same intensity of weather impact as that seen in the Caribbean.

“I think we'll have an increased chance of rain on Saturday and especially Sunday, but I don't expect to see a hurricane form in the Gulf and move toward the central Texas coast,” he added.

Officials say Beryl embodies risks of climate change

A fisherman looks at fishing boats damaged by Hurricane Beryl at Bridgetown Fisheries in Barbados on Monday.

Ricardo Mazalan/AP

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Ricardo Mazalan/AP

Beryl is an unusually strong hurricane for this early in the season. The hurricane is being fueled by record-high ocean temperatures due to climate change, which is making powerful storms more common.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has forecast an extra active Atlantic hurricane season, which will run from June through November.

As they prepare for Beryl, some Jamaican officials point to the storm as an example of how developing countries are feeling the brunt of climate change.

Holness, the Prime Minister, said in a televised speech On Tuesday, as the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record, Beryl highlights the growing impact of climate change on Small Island Developing Stateslike Jamaica.

“While our carbon emissions are minimal, our region bears the heaviest burden of climate change impacts,” he added. “This hurricane underscores the urgent need for global climate action and targeted support to increase resilience to the growing threats of climate change.”

Following these comments, the Jamaican senator said Delroy Williams told CNN that the international community must do more to increase coastal cities' access to climate change finance and improve infrastructure in low-lying areas.

Beryl made that conversation extra personal for Simon Stiell, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and a native of Carriacou.

His deceased grandmother's house was destroyed and his parents' property was damaged, his office told AFPHe called climate change “not a problem of tomorrow.”

“This is happening in every economy now,” Stiell added. “Disasters on a scale that used to be science fiction are becoming meteorological facts, and the climate crisis is the main culprit.”