Hurricane Beryl roars by Jamaica, heads for Cayman Islands & Mexico’s Yucatan

Hurricane Beryl sideswiped Jamaica with heavy rains and 145 mph winds on Wednesday (July 3), with the storm tearing roofs off of homes and knocking down power lines in areas like Portland, the Jamaica Observer reports.

Hundreds of thousands of homes in Jamaica are without power today after Beryl roared along the island's southern coast.  The Category 4 storm – said to be one of the most powerful to ever hit Jamaica – brought more than 12 hours of heavy rain, reports the BBC.

The Jamaican government has ended its hurricane warning as Beryl now heads for the Cayman Islands. But rainfall and flash-flooding still pose a risk on the island.

As per a government-issued weather bulletin, continued periods of heavy rainfall could result in flash flooding over low-lying and flood-prone areas of Jamaica.

Caribbean media is reporting that the UN has unlocked $4 million USD from its emergency response fund to help with recovery in Jamaica, Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Jamaica’s airports closed on Wednesday ahead of the storm's arrival. A reopening will be announced once an assessment of the damage is made.

Air Canada, WestJet, Air Transat, Flair and Sunwing have all posted updates for passengers with bookings to Jamaica.

Beryl’s destructive path

Prior to arriving in Jamaica, Beryl strengthened to a Category 5 storm – the earliest Category 5 on record in the Atlantic – as it raged through the open waters of the Caribbean.

On Monday, the storm made landfall on Carriacou, an island that is part of Grenada, as well as Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Grenada, for one, was left with “unimaginable” destruction from the storm, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said. Officials said 98 per cent of buildings in the nation of 6,000 had been damaged or destroyed.

The death toll form Beryl has climbed to at least 10, but that is expected to rise as communications return across flooded islands.

The storm’s eye will approach the Cayman Islands today before heading towards Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.

Beryl is forecast to make landfall in a sparsely populated area south of Tulum in the early hours of Friday, most likely as a Category 2 storm.