Beryl, earliest Category 4 hurricane on record, brings life-threatening winds to Caribbean

WASHINGTON — The "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm Hurricane Beryl barrelled across the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday afternoon toward the Caribbean's Windward Islands, where it is expected to bring life-threatening winds and flash flooding on July 1, the US National Hurricane Centre said.

The first hurricane of the 2024 season was located about 400km southeast of Barbados in the afternoon on June 30, with maximum sustained winds of 215kmh, the NHC said in an advisory.

The centre of the hurricane is expected to travel across the Windward Islands in the morning on July 1 as a Category 4 storm, the second-strongest level on a five-step scale.

"Potentially catastrophic wind damage is expected where the eyewall of Beryl moves through portions of the Windward Islands, with the highest risk of the core in St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada," NHC said in its most recent advisory.

It is rare for a major hurricane to appear this early in the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov 30. On June 30, Beryl became the earliest Category 4 hurricane on record, beating Hurricane Dennis, which became a Category 4 on July 8, 2005, according to NHC data.

Hurricane warnings have been issued in Barbados, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadine Islands, Grenada and Tobago. A tropical storm watch has been issued for Dominica, Trinidad, and parts of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Authorities and residents on the Caribbean islands were preparing for the storm's arrival.

Tobago has opened shelters, closed schools for July 1, and cancelled elective surgeries in the hospitals, authorities said.

The hurricane is expected to bring 8 to 15cm of rain across Barbados and the Windward Islands throughout the day on July 1, which the NHC warned could cause flash flooding in vulnerable areas.

Large, dangerous swells are also expected to batter the southern coasts of Puerto Rico and Hispaniola.

In May, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted above-normal hurricane activity in the Atlantic in 2024, in part due to near-record warm ocean temperatures.

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