Hurricane Beryl strengthens to Category 5 as it heads toward Jamaica

This story was updated on Tuesday, July 2 at 3:30 p.m. EST.

The first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season has strengthened into a Category 5 storm as it roars across the Caribbean, bringing devastation to the Windward Islands, reports say.

Hurricane Beryl whirled into a hurricane on Saturday (June 29), making landfall as a Category 4 in the Caribbean on Monday (July 1), leaving floods and damage in Barbados, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada.

There were “widespread reports of destruction and devastation in Carriacou and Petite Martinique,” Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said at a press briefing Monday. “In half an hour, Carriacou was flattened.”

According to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Beryl is the strongest known hurricane to pass through the Grenadine islands.

At least one death has been reported in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, where hundreds of homes and buildings have been damaged, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said Monday night, suggesting that there may be more fatalities.

Some areas of St. Vincent and the Grenadines were left with no water or electricity, Mr. Gonsalves said.

Beryl “left in its wake immense destruction, pain, suffering, across our nation at this hour,” he said.

Union Island, north of Grenada, was devastated, with reports indicating 90 per cent of the houses have been severely damaged or destroyed, Gonsalves said.

Jamaica braces for impact 

Beryl, which is fuelled by record-warm waters, is now heading towards Jamaica. The storm is expected to hit the island by Wednesday afternoon, according to a National Hurricane Centre forecast. 

A hurricane watch has also been issued for the Cayman Islands.

Fluctuations in strength, and later a weakening, were projected as the storm pushes farther into the Caribbean in the coming days. 

Beryl is expected to begin weakening Tuesday, but the NHC says it will still be "near major hurricane intensity" as it passes Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. If Beryl remains a Category 5 storm, it means its winds will reach 157 mph or higher.

Sangster airport to temporarily close (NEW)

MBJ Airports Limited, which operates Sangster International Airport (MBJ) in Montego Bay, issued a press release July 2, announcing that the airport will temporarily close tonight (Tuesday, July 2) at 11:59 p.m. and will remain closed throughout Wednesday (July 3).

"Passengers are urged to contact their airline to make changes to their reservations prior to making their way to the airport," the airport says. 

Extra departure flights out of MBJ have been added to Tuesday night's schedule. They include:

As the airport will be closed on Wednesday (July 3), all flight operations will be cancelled.

Following the hurricane, an assessment will be conducted to determine when it is safe to resume operations. 

"Updates will be communicated promptly," the airport says. 

All updates regarding the effects of Hurricane Beryl on operations at Sangster airport will be posted here:

• MBJ's homepage
• The airport's Facebook page
• It's Instagram account
• And X account.

Hurricane Beryl is the earliest Category 5 hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic basin and is only the second Category 5 storm recorded in July since 2005, says the National Hurricane Centre. 

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