Hurricane Beryl leaves at least six dead, destruction and “alarming precedent” in the Caribbean

Beryl’s passage through the Caribbean has already left at least six dead, raising concerns about the speed of its formation and the fact that it has reached the greatest power that a cyclone can have (Category 5) at such an early stage in the Atlantic hurricane season, something that is seen as an “alarming precedent.”

Beryl reached Category 5 status on Monday night (the highest on the Saffir-Simpson scale, which measures cyclones by their winds), and dropped to Category 4 on Tuesday afternoon, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) based in Miami.

At least three people died in Grenada on Tuesday, adding to the death recorded on Monday in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, islands in the Eastern Caribbean.

Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said “possibly more” people have died on the island and neighbouring Carriacou.

Mitchell said efforts are being made to arrange for a helicopter to visit Carriacou as the sea remains very rough and Coast Guard vessels are unlikely to be able to reach it.

The cyclone, the first of the Atlantic hurricane season, has left significant destruction to buildings, roads and vessels in several countries of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), which suspended its annual meeting and convened a virtual meeting to assess the damage and design a collective response.

On Tuesday, Venezuelan authorities reported two deaths, five missing and more than 600 homes affected in the state of Sucre (northeast), due to the overflow of the Manzanares River after the passage of Beryl.

The Minister of Internal Affairs, Remigio Ceballos, reported that medical attention was provided to the population and that “reinforcements” were deployed with personnel from the fire department and other rescue organizations “for analysis, damage assessment and mitigation work.”

Preparations, alerts and evacuations

In Puerto Rico, the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DRNA) reported the closure of several beach resorts in the north and southwest of the island due to dangerous maritime conditions caused by the hurricane.

“Conditions are not suitable for bathers,” the DRNA urged in its message, while the National Meteorological Service (SNM) issued warnings of coastal flooding and sea currents, as well as for small boats.

Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic began to feel the indirect effects of the hurricane on Tuesday, which remains a dangerous system with maximum sustained winds of 260 kilometers per hour (160 miles per hour).

Given this situation, the Emergency Operations Center (COE) of the Dominican Republic placed 24 of the country’s 32 provinces on alert, two of them, Barahona and Pedernales (southwest), in red (maximum), and where the indirect effects of the hurricane are already being felt, which led to the initiation of preventive evacuations and the suspension of classes.

Meanwhile, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Tuesday criticized the “sensationalism” surrounding Beryl, which could make landfall in southeastern Mexico later this week.

“They will never be left helpless, but they should not be alarmed, because there will also be a lot of sensationalism, too much information about the hurricane, exaggerated,” said the president.

The National Meteorological Service (SMN) warned on Monday of a double impact in Mexico, where between Thursday and Friday it would make landfall in Quintana Roo, the largest tourist state in the country, and between Sunday and Monday in Veracruz, in the Gulf of Mexico.

On the other hand, cruise companies such as Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and Carnival diverted or cancelled their itineraries as Beryl advanced through the Caribbean, justifying the priority of the safety of their guests and crew.

Beryl is expected to head toward Jamaica, passing close to the island on Wednesday, and will affect the Cayman Islands the following day. It may also pass along the coast of Haiti from the border with the Dominican Republic to the town of Anse d’Hainault, according to the NHC.

The Jamaican government announced on Tuesday the closure of the international airport and non-essential government offices as part of preparations for the arrival of the cyclone.

“A very active and risky station”

Beryl surprised the small archipelagos of the Eastern Caribbean with its rapid formation and ability to gain power, which according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is an “alarming precedent.”

The UN meteorological agency stressed that, since records began, a hurricane of maximum intensity had never formed in the Atlantic at this time of year.

Three named tropical storms have already formed during the current Atlantic season, which runs from June 1 to November 30: Alberto, Beryl and Chris, the latter of which also developed rapidly and caused havoc in Mexico.

For the WMO, the arrival of Beryl with this force two weeks earlier than usual could be the harbinger of “a very active season with risks for the entire Atlantic basin.”

Meteorologist José Manuel Galvez told EFE that in recent years there has been a process known as “rapid intensification” of these tropical systems, which “tends to prevail.”

According to the NHC, Beryl is expected to gradually lose intensity by midweek, although it will still maintain hurricane-force winds.

America / EFE