Hurricane Beryl upgraded to Category 5
The US National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, has warned that Hurricane Beryl is potentially now a Category 5 storm
This rating on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale refers to a hurricane with winds of 157mph (252km/h) or higher, with the expectation that “catastrophic damage will occur”.
The Center describes the impact of such a storm: “A high percentage of framed homes will be destroyed, with total roof failure and wall collapse. Fallen trees and power poles will isolate residential areas. Power outages will last for weeks to possibly months. Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months.”
Hurricane Beryl has already caused severe damage in Grenada, as well as St Vincent and the Grenadines, with at least seven people reportedly killed so far. Damage has also been reported in Petite Martinique and Barbados.
The storm is due to make landfall in Jamaica on the afternoon of 3 July, and an island-wide curfew will be in effect between 6am and 6pm that day.
The country’s Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, pre-emptively declared the entire island a “disaster area” for the next seven days, according to a report by Jamaican newspaper the Gleaner.
Bloomberg Intelligence recently reported that 2023 was an above-average year for storms in the Atlantic, with 20 named storms that year.