Hurricane Beryl thrashed Jamaica with heavy winds and rain on Wednesday, killing at least one person after forging a destructive, water-soaked path across smaller Caribbean islands over the past couple days.
The death toll from the powerful Category 4 hurricane climbed to at least 10, but it is widely expected to rise further as communications come back online across drenched islands damaged by flooding and deadly winds.
The force of the winds is expected to weaken somewhat in the next day or two, according to the NHC, though it cautioned that Beryl would remain at or near major hurricane strength as it passed the Cayman Islands.
Beryl is expected to dump 4-6 inches (10-15 cm) of rain on the Cayman Islands overnight and into Thursday. Large swells were expected to “cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,” the NHC said.
The center added that a hurricane warning was in effect for Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, as well as the eastern coast of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, including for the country’s top beach resort Cancun.
‘ARMAGEDDON-LIKE’
Additional confirmed fatalities so far include at least three din St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a senior official told Reuters, where Union Island has suffered severe destruction of over 90% of buildings.
In Grenada, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell described “Armageddon-like” conditions with no power and widespread destruction, while also confirming three deaths.
In Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro told state television that three people had died and four were missing in the area, along with more than 8,000 homes damaged by torrential rains, including at least 400 destroyed.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez was injured by a falling tree on Tuesday as she surveyed an area south of Beryl where intense rainfall caused the Manzanares River in Sucre state to burst its banks, the president confirmed.
The unusually early hurricane strengthened at a record pace, which scientists argue is almost certainly fueled by climate change
