Hurricane Beryl tearing through the Caribbean

BBC: A deadly hurricane which has been tearing through the Caribbean is intensifying as it moves towards Jamaica.

Hurricane Beryl is now a category five storm, meaning its winds and storm surges could prove catastrophic.
The storm made landfall on Monday on Carriacou, an island which is part of Grenada.

So far, there are reports of two people dead as a result of the storm, one in Grenada and one in St Vincent.
Beryl hit land on Monday as a category four hurricane, with sustained winds of 150 mph.

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Carriacou had taken a direct hit from Hurricane Beryl’s “extremely dangerous eyewall” – a ring of thunderstorms which produces heavy rain and particularly strong winds.
Communications with Carriacou and the nearby island of Petite Martinique are still disrupted.

St Vincent and the Grenadines, to the north-east of Grenada, was also devastated by Hurricane Beryl.
Its Prime Minister, Ralph Gonsalves, said that at least one person had been killed by the storm and that Storm Beryl had “left in its wake immense destruction”.

Thousands of people are still without power and many are in temporary shelters in St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and St Lucia. Barbados, which had issued a hurricane warning as Storm Beryl approached, seems to have been spared major damage.

Meteorologists from the National Hurricane Center say Beryl continues to strengthen as it moves through the south-eastern Caribbean.

The NHC warns Beryl is expected bring “life-threatening winds and storm surge to Jamaica later this week”, most likely on Wednesday afternoon local time. The Jamaican government has issued a hurricane warning and people living in low-lying and flood-prone areas have been urged to seek shelter.