Hurricane Beryl strengthens on way to Jamaica, threatens catastrophe

Hurricane Beryl strengthened on Monday into a "potentially catastrophic" category 5 storm as it moved across the eastern Caribbean, putting Jamaica near its path after downing power lines and flooding streets elsewhere.

Beryl brings an unusually fierce and early start to this year's Atlantic hurricane season, with scientists saying climate change probably contributed to the rapid pace of its formation as global warming has boosted North Atlantic temperatures.

By 11 p.m. AST (0300 GMT) on Monday, Beryl, packing winds of up to 160 mph (257 kph), was about 840 miles (1,352 km) east-southeast of Kingston, the Jamaican capital, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

The storm struck the Caribbean region earlier in the day as the earliest Category 4 storm on record, rated on the five-point Saffir-Simpson scale.

"Beryl is now a potentially catastrophic Category 5 hurricane," the NHC said in a statement, adding that it was expected to bring life-threatening winds and a storm surge to Jamaica later this week.

The storm could dump 4 inches to 8 inches (10 cm to 20 cm) of rain on Wednesday, rising to as much as 12 inches (31 cm) in some areas, it said.

Jamaica issued a hurricane warning on Monday, while tropical storm warnings were in effect for parts of the southern coasts of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Across other islands in the eastern Caribbean, residents had boarded up windows, stocked up on food and fueled up cars as the storm approached.

Officials in Mexico began to prepare for Beryl's arrival this week, with the federal government urging "extreme caution" for authorities and people.

Mexico is now assessing the damage in its states of Oaxaca and Veracruz from heavy rain brought by former tropical storm Chris.

"What worries us is that basins are already saturated," said Cutberto Ruiz, chief of meteorology at Oaxaca's civil protection agency. "Then, with minimal rain ... rivers will rise."

Climate change

Global warming has helped push temperatures in the North Atlantic to all-time highs, causing more surface water to evaporate, which in turn provides additional fuel for more intense hurricanes with higher wind speeds.

In May, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted above-normal hurricane activity in the Atlantic this year, also pointing to unseasonably high ocean temperatures.

"Climate change is loading the dice for more intense hurricanes to form," said Christopher Rozoff, an atmospheric scientist at the United States' National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.

Beryl jumped from a Category 1 to a Category 4 storm in less than 10 hours, said Andra Garner, a meteorologist based in New Jersey.

Scientists have already predicted that events like Beryl will grow more likely with climate change, added Garner, whose research has shown rising water temperatures over the last five decades have made it more than twice as likely for weak storms to grow into major hurricanes within less than 24 hours.

(Cover: Debris are seen on the main road after the passage of Hurricane Beryl, Oistins, Christ Church parish, Barbados, July 1, 2024. /CFP)