Hurricane Beryl lashed Jamaica with strong winds and rain on Wednesday afternoon, uprooting trees and roofs and destroying farms on smaller Caribbean islands over the past two days.
The death toll from the powerful Category 4 hurricane has risen to at least nine, but the toll is expected to rise further as communications are restored on islands soaked and damaged by flooding and winds.
“Everything is destroyed, there is nothing else on Palm Island,” said Katie Rosiak, general manager of the Palm Island Resort in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, one of the worst-hit areas in the eastern Caribbean.
“We need help for everyone,” he said in a brief phone call.
The loss of life and damage caused by Beryl underscore the consequences of a warmer Atlantic Ocean, which scientists cite as a telltale sign of man-made climate change fueling extreme weather that confounds past experience.
Although the eye of the hurricane was not passing directly over Jamaica but just south of the island, residents were bracing for power outages, a power company official said, with roads near the coast already washed out as steady rain continued to fall and winds intensified in the capital.
In the capital, Kingston, anxious motorists queued at petrol stations while others stocked up on essential supplies.
“It is imperative that we remain calm,” Prime Minister Andrew Holness said in a national address on Tuesday night. “Now is not the time to panic.”
On Wednesday, residents appeared to heed his call.
“People are worried, always buying and buying things,” said André, a salesman at a local store, without giving his full name.
By mid-afternoon Wednesday, the hurricane’s well-defined eye was about 100 kilometres (60 miles) southeast of Kingston, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC), though its outer rings were already lashing much of the island of nearly 3 million.
Beryl has maximum sustained winds of 225 kilometers per hour
Wind strength is expected to weaken somewhat over the next day or two, the NHC said, though it warned that Beryl will remain at or near major hurricane strength as it moves toward the Cayman Islands.
“Flash flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall are expected to be life-threatening across much of Jamaica and southern Haiti through today,” the NHC said, forecasting dangerous winds and storm surge in the Cayman Islands through early Thursday.
The center added that a hurricane warning was in effect for Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and the eastern coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, including Cancun, the country’s main beach resort.
Beyond the short-term impact on Jamaica and Haiti, the NHC warned that Beryl will likely make landfall on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Thursday night.
In Cancun, authorities said supplies of wooden boards used to protect doors and windows were running low as locals and tourists braced for the hurricane’s arrival.
Laura Velazquez, head of Mexico’s civil protection agency, encouraged tourists in Cancun and nearby Tulum to seek shelter in hotel basements once the hurricane approaches, in comments to local broadcaster Milenio.
[Con información de Reuters]
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