Hurricane Beryl, “extremely dangerous”, threatens the Caribbean

Photo: American Oceanic and Atmospheric Observation Agency via Agence France-Presse “Béryl”, which had gone from tropical storm to hurricane overnight, is now classified in category 4, announced the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami.

Chandan Khanna – Agence France-Presse in Bridgetown

Published at 2:11 p.m.

• Americas

Hurricane Béryl strengthened further on Sunday and is advancing towards the Caribbean with “extremely dangerous” winds exceeding 200 km/h, carriers of “potentially fatal” risks for the islands of the Antilles.

Béryl, which had passed into the night from tropical storm to hurricane, is now classified in category 4, announced the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami, which refers.

The hurricane, which was then 565 km from Barbados, continues to gain strength before hitting the first Windward Islands on Monday morning, the NHC added.

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A weather event of this scale is extremely rare this early in the hurricane season — which runs from early June to late November in the United States.

“Only five Major hurricanes (force 3 or greater) have been recorded in years prior to the first week of July. If Béryl actually becomes a major hurricane, it will be the sixth, and the earliest, of those ever recorded so far to the east”, the hurricane expert explains on hurricanes Michael Lowry.

Stores stormed

A hurricane watch is in force for the islands of Barbados, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada.

Saturday, Martinique, Dominica and island of Tobago had passed a tropical storm watch.

In Barbados, gas stations were stormed by motorists stocking up on gasoline before the storm arrived.

Supermarkets and small grocery stores were filled with customers stocking up on water, food and other basic necessities, while almost everywhere residents could be seen nailing boards in front of their windows to protect them.

< p>“Hurricane conditions, with damaging winds, heavy rain, flooding and water levels rising to two meters above normal are expected from the early hours of Monday morning in the islands under the Wind,” warned the NHC.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has forecast an extraordinary season at the end of May, predicting the possibility of four to seven Category 3 or higher hurricanes.

The 2024 hurricane season is also announced by Météo France as one of the “most intense” in this area.

These forecasts are notably linked to the expected development of the La Nina meteorological phenomenon in the near future. , as well as very high temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean, NOAA said.

Global warming is making extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, more frequent and more devastating.