The Category 4 hurricane smashed several islands, including Grenada, Barbados and St Vincent and the Grenadines. The storm’s winds reached 150 mph and flattened some buildings.
“In half an hour, Carriacou was flattened,” Grenadian Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said, referring to the island that bore the brunt of Beryl’s winds. Mitchell did not release a death toll from the hurricane but noted that the island’s communication infrastructure had been damaged, which may slow reporting.
Powerful storms this early in summer are a rarity for the Atlantic. On Sunday, Beryl became the first Category 4 hurricane recorded in June. On Monday it surpassed Hurricane Dennis, which also hit Grenada in 2005 before affecting Jamaica, Haiti and the Southeastern United States.
Videos posted on social media showed the damage on Union Island, in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Jamaica remained under a hurricane watch as of Monday, with Beryl predicted to reach the island nation on Wednesday. Forecasters hope that the storm will drop to a category 2 storm by then and if it hits the island directly, it may weaken in intensity further. Other forecasts could have the storm heading toward Belize and Central America before hitting the Yucatan Peninsula. Another scenario has it moving through the Gulf of Mexico, which could see the storm intensify before heading towards the United States and Cuba, though forecasters say that scenario is less likely.
Beryl is the second named storm of the hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30 in the Atlantic. This season is expected to be abnormally busy.