Deadly Category 5 Hurricane Beryl Wreaks Devastation in the Caribbean

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The earliest Category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record, Hurricane Beryl has killed at least one person and is wreaking destruction as it barrels across the Caribbean. Beryl made landfall on Carriacou Island, Grenada at around 11am EDT on Monday, with maximum winds of 150 mph, CNN reports. As of Tuesday, Beryl’s winds had increased to nearly 160 mph.

In a press conference on Monday, Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said there had been “widespread reports of destruction and devastation” in Carriacou and Petite Martinique. “In half an hour, Carriacou was flattened,” Mitchell said.

“You have to appreciate the ferocity and the strength of the hurricane and therefore we are not yet out of the woods,” he added.

Around 95% of Grenanda was left without power on Monday. All schools and businesses, as well as the airport, were closed.

Reporting the death of one person in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves announced Monday evening that hundreds of homes and buildings have been damaged in his constituency, CNN reports. Residents in parts of St. Vincent and the Grenadines had no water or electricity as of Monday night, Gonsalves added.

The US National Hurricane Center said in a statement about Beryl: “Fluctuations in strength are likely during the next day or so, but Beryl is expected to still be near major hurricane intensity as its moves into the central Caribbean and passes near Jamaica on Wednesday.”

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