Hurricane Beryl brought devastating winds and heavy rain to several Caribbean islands on Monday as the earliest-ever Category 4 storm churned westward.
Carriacou Island, which is part of Grenada, took a direct hit on Monday morning from the storm’s “extremely dangerous eyewall,” with sustained winds at upwards of 150 miles (240 kilometers) per hour, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
Nearby islands, including Grenada, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines, also experienced “catastrophic winds and life-threatening storm surges” according to the NHC.
Posting a video showing large waves, the Office of the Prime Minister of Grenada wrote on Facebook that the tri-island state was “experiencing intense winds and damage.”
“This is a hazardous and life-threatening situation,” the NHC said. “Residents should not leave their shelter and remain in place through the passage of these life-threatening conditions.”
Experts say that such a powerful storm forming this early in the Atlantic hurricane season- from early June to late November- is extremely rare.
It is the first hurricane since NHC records began to reach the Category 4 level in June.
Barbados appeared to be spared from the worst of the storm but was still hit with high winds and pelting rain, as officials reported no injuries so far.
The island’s meteorological agency downgraded a hurricane warning Monday afternoon to a wind advisory until 6:00 pm local time (2200 GMT).
Barbados seems to have “dodged a bullet,” Minister of Home Affairs and Information Wilfred Abrahams said in an online video, but “gusts are still coming, the storm-force winds are still coming” he said.
The hurricane warning was also lifted in Tobago, the smaller of the two islands that make up Trinidad and Tobago, officials said.
