Hurricane Beryl lashes Jamaica as its center brushes past island coast

Hurricane Beryl lashed Jamaica with strong winds and brought life-threatening storm surge and strong waves as the Category 4 storm brushed the southern coast of the island Wednesday, officials said.

Beryl had maximum sustained winds of 140 mph and was causing hurricane conditions on part of the Caribbean nation of 2.8 million, and tropical storm conditions elsewhere, the National Hurricane Center said in a 5 p.m. update.

The storm, which when it had been a Category 5 storm with 165 mph winds had made history as the strongest July hurricane ever recorded, has been blamed in seven deaths as it devastated parts of the Windward Islands and caused flooding and damage in Venezuela.

Jamaican officials pleaded with residents to take the storm seriously and evacuate. No deaths have been reported there.

“Very dangerous conditions ongoing now in Jamaica, and they are going to continue for the next several hours,” National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan warned. “Everybody’s going to want to stay sheltered in place, through the rest of the day, through tonight.”

Storm surges of 6 to 9 feet above normal tide levels are expected as the counter-clockwise-rotating hurricane pushes water onto Jamaica’s coast, he said.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., with Beryl’s path uncertain, state authorities in Texas have warned people in coastal areas to be prepared over the holiday weekend in case tropical weather reaches the United States’ Gulf Coast.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to issue a hurricane advisory notice to the Texas Emergency Management Council.

The governor said the state “stands ready to deploy all available resources and support to our coastal communities.”

At least seven people are known to have died as a result of the storm, which has destroyed homes and devastated farms on islands across the Caribbean.

The small island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines was badly hit, with at least one person dead and more casualties feared. In Grenada, where least three people have died, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said many homes had been destroyed and called the storm’s effect “Armageddon-like.” Venezuela was hit by heavy flooding and at least three people have died there, with four more missing, the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, said.

In Barbados, the fishing community and coastline were hit hard, Prime Minister Mia Mottley said. In a video shared on X, large waves could be seen crashing over a hotel balcony in Dover Beach.

On Tuesday, Beryl was classified as a Category 5 hurricane with record-breaking 165 mph winds by the National Hurricane Center, making it the strongest July hurricane on record.

Beryl has continued to weaken as it moved west across the Caribbean Sea toward the Gulf of Mexico — but it is still forecast to be at or near major hurricane status when it the Cayman Islands, which like Jamaica is under a hurricane warning.

The storm is forecast to pass near or over the Cayman Islands Wednesday night or Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said.

While some slight weakening occurred as the storm approached Jamaica, authorities made clear that this is a major weather event that should not be taken lightly.

“If you live in a low-lying area, an area that is historically prone to flooding and landslide, or if you live on the banks of a river … I implore you to evacuate to a shelter or to safer ground,” Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said in a video statement Tuesday.

Casey and Warner Haley, of Knoxville, Tennessee, were enjoying their honeymoon after getting married Saturday when they were told they needed to hunker down at their resort in Montego Bay.

“Yesterday morning it was perfect weather. We went snorkeling and we went kayaking and by the time we got back, the forecast had changed,” Casey, 23, said in a phone interview Wednesday.

The couple said they immediately contacted their travel agent but were told there were no flights available. At the airport, they were told the same.

“It was quite literally doomsday-type level scenery,” Casey said. “We went to all the flight counters, just saying, ‘Hey can you get us anywhere at all, particularly in the U.S., but literally just anywhere. And they all said, ‘No, we’re all booked.'”

The local grocery was packed, Casey said, describing it as “an absolute frenzy” with lines reaching to the back.

A mandatory evacuation has not been ordered at the resort, but a conference room has been opened up for guests to ride out the hurricane.

Holness said the country’s security forces had plans in place to stop looting and other opportunistic crime once the hurricane has passed.

Fisherman Courtney Howell, from Kingston, told Reuters that Jamaicans were used to hurricanes.

“Well this one is more dangerous than the one before. But this one, I mean, I’m not scared because I’m used to them and I’ve been through many. So this one now coming, is just another experience,” he said.

At 5 p.m. the hurricane’s center had already passed Kingston, Jamaica, but it was about 265 miles east-southeast of Grand Cayman, and the storm was moving west-northwest at 20 mph.

“The Cayman Islands are sort of next in line for seeing significant impacts,” Brennan, the hurricane center director, said.

Storm surge there could raise water levels by as much as 2 to 4 feet above normal tide levels, and rainfall totals could range from 4 to 6 inches, the hurricane center said.

While the storm’s eventual path in the Gulf of Mexico was not precisely clear, Texas administrators were taking no chances. Texas Emergency Management said that anyone living in or visiting coastal areas for the Fourth of July should listen for warnings and have a plan in place should the weather turn rough.

“While Texans take time to enjoy the holiday weekend with family and friends, it’s important to stay weather aware, pay close attention to the rapidly-changing forecasts, and don’t be caught without an emergency plan,” Texas Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd said in a statement.