Hurricane Beryl remains 'impressive' Category 5 hurricane

In its latest report, the U.S. National Hurricane Center says Beryl was 1,120 kilometers east-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica and is producing maximum sustained winds of 270 kph. It is moving quickly to the west-northwest at an estimated 35 kph.
The hurricane center said satellite imagery shows a well-defined eye, expanding outflow. The eye was visible in video taken from the International Space Station as it passed over the storm.
On its present course, forecasters expect Beryl to bring life threatening wind and storm surge to Jamaica Wednesday, where hurricane warnings are in effect.
The government of the Cayman Islands has issued a hurricane watch, and a tropical storm warning is in effect for the south coast of Hispaniola, the island which includes Haiti and the Dominican Republic, reports VOA.
Heavy rainfall and flash flooding are likely over much of Jamaica Wednesday. Beryl is likely to produce 10 to 20 centimeters of rain there with localized maximum rainfall of as much as 30 cms. The outer bands of Beryl are expected on Tuesday to bring five to ten centimeters of rain to Hispaniola.
While its intensity forecast remains uncertain and some weakening of the storm is expected later Tuesday, the hurricane center says Beryl is forecast to remain a powerful hurricane as it moves across the Caribbean Sea later this week.
Hurricane Beryl made landfall across the Windward Islands Monday as a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 241 kilometers an hour, striking first on Grenada's Carriacou island. Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said late Monday night that Carriacou had been “flattened” within a half-hour of Beryl’s landfall, and there were initial reports of destruction on the nearby island of Petite Martinique.
The New York Times quoted Prime Minister Mitchell as saying one person was killed in the capital, St. George.
Widespread destruction was also reported across the southeast Caribbean in Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, including hundreds of homes and businesses damaged or destroyed and downed power lines, leaving many communities cut off from the outside world.
Beryl grew from a tropical storm to a major hurricane in 42 hours, which has only happened six times in the recorded history of Atlantic hurricanes. The hurricane is also the earliest to reach Category 4 status in the region. Hurricane Dennis became a Category 4 storm on July 8, 2005.
Beryl is the second named storm in the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. Tropical Storm Alberto hit northeastern Mexico in June, killing four people.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has warned of an above average hurricane season.