“Beryl” unleashes her fury –

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP) — Hurricane Beryl strengthened to a Category 5 storm overnight following ripping doors, windows and roofs off homes in the southeastern Caribbean with devastating winds and storm surge fueled by record-breaking Atlantic heat.

Beryl made landfall on Carriacou Island, Grenada, as the first Category 4 storm in the Atlantic.

By late followingnoon, the National Hurricane Center in Miami reported that winds had increased to 160 mph.

Fluctuations in strength are likely over the next few days as the storm moves toward the Caribbean.

Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said one person had died and he might not yet say whether there were other fatalities because authorities had not been able to assess the situation on the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique, where there were initial reports of major damage but communications were largely disrupted.

“We hope there are no more deaths or injuries,” he added. “But keep in mind the challenge we have in Carriacou and Petite Martinique.”

Mitchel added that the government is sending personnel this morning to assess the situation on the islands.

Destruction

Streets from St Lucia to Grenada in the south were littered with shoes, trees, downed power lines and other debris.

Banana trees were snapped in half and cows lay dead in the green pastures, while houses made of tin and plywood leaned precariously nearby.

“Right now, I’m just heartbroken,” said Vichelle Clark King as she surveyed her damaged tent in Barbados’ capital, Bridgetown, which was filled with sand and water.

Beryl continued to batter the southeastern Caribbean overnight as it moved into the Caribbean Sea on a path heading south of Jamaica and toward Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula Thursday night as a Category 1 storm.

The storm was located regarding 825 kilometers east-southeast of Isla Beata in the Dominican Republic and was moving west-northwest at 33 kph.

A hurricane watch was in effect for Jamaica and a tropical storm warning for the southern coast of Hispaniola, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Fluctuations are likely, but Beryl is expected to remain near major hurricane intensity as it moves toward the central Caribbean and passes near Jamaica tomorrow, the National Hurricane Center said.

The last strong hurricane to hit the southeastern Caribbean was Ivan 20 years ago, which killed dozens of people in Grenada.

Officials received “reports of devastation” in Carriacou and surrounding islands yesterday followingnoon, said Terence Walters, Grenada’s national disaster coordinator.

Mitchell said he would travel to Carriacou as soon as it was safe, and that there had been extensive storm surge.

Granada authorities had to evacuate patients to a lower floor following the hospital’s roof was damaged, he added.