Hurricane Beryl strengthened as it churned toward the Caribbean's Windward Islands on Monday (July 1), according to officials, threatening devastating flooding and storm surges as life-threatening high winds picked up speed.
People in a broad swathe of the Eastern Caribbean boarded up shops, stocked up on food and filled their cars with fuel as the storm approached.
"Beryl is expected to remain an extremely dangerous major hurricane when it reaches the Windward Islands this morning," the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory, urging residents to heed any evacuation orders or other preparedness guidance from officials.
Beryl's rapid rise marks an unusually fierce and early start to this year's Atlantic hurricane season - the earliest Category 4 storm on record, according to NHC data.
The prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, said he was expecting a natural disaster that could continue for days.
In the capital of Kingston, conditions around the main harbor worsened on Monday morning, with some damage to building roofs reported, caused by intensifying winds.
At Category 4 strength on the Saffir-Simpson five-point scale, Beryl is packing maximum sustained wind speeds of 130 miles per hour (209 kilometers per hour), with some higher gusts, and is located about 90 miles (145 km) south-southeast of St. Vincent.
It is moving west-northwest at a speed of 20 mph (32 kmph) and is forecast to cross many of the central Caribbean's most populated islands through Wednesday as it barrels toward the Gulf of Mexico, the NHC added.
Hurricane warnings were in effect for Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and Tobago. A tropical storm warning was issued for Martinique, Trinidad and St. Lucia, with storm watches also issued for parts of the Dominican Republic and parts of Haiti.
The hurricane is expected to bring 3 to 6 inches (8 to 15 centimeters) of rain across Barbados and the Windward Islands throughout the day on Monday, with some areas seeing as much as 10 inches (25 cm), especially in The Grenadines and Grenada.
In May, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted above-normal hurricane activity in the Atlantic this year due largely to near-record ocean temperatures.
(Production: Curlan Campbell, Ravi Alvert and Kia Johnson)
