Hurricane Beryl: Deadly storm hurtles towards Jamaica after ripping through Grenada and Saint Vincent killing at least seven people

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Deadly hurricane Beryl is hurtling towards Jamaica as a Category 4 storm after striking Grenada and Saint Vincent killing at least seven people.

Beryl intensified to the earliest Category 5 storm recorded in the Atlantic overnight before weakening back to Category 4 on Tuesday (2 July). The hurricane has killed at least seven people; three in Grenada, three in northern Venezuela and one in St Vincent and the Grenadines. One of the victims died in Grenada’s capital after a tree fell on their home, Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said.

Jamaica is now under a hurricane warning today (Wednesday 3 July). Residents of the Cayman Islands are also bracing for Hurricane Beryl to hit on Thursday night (4 July). The storm will likely maintain strength as it travels. Life-threatening flash flooding is expected to impact Jamaica and southern Hispaniola throughout the evening tonight.

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The Category 4 hurricane also has the potential to hit Texas over the weekend, according to projections from the National Weather Service. St Vincent and the Grenadines have suffered hundreds of millions of dollars worth of "horrendous" damages after Hurricane Beryl, the prime minister said.

Deadly hurricane Beryl is hurtling towards Jamaica as a Category 4 storm after striking Grenada and Saint Vincent killing at least seven people. (Photo: AFP via Getty Images)Deadly hurricane Beryl is hurtling towards Jamaica as a Category 4 storm after striking Grenada and Saint Vincent killing at least seven people. (Photo: AFP via Getty Images)
Deadly hurricane Beryl is hurtling towards Jamaica as a Category 4 storm after striking Grenada and Saint Vincent killing at least seven people. (Photo: AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images

"This is a horrific hurricane," said Ralph Gonsalves, prime minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to Al Jazeera, adding that houses, schools and health facilities were without electricity and some parts didn't have drinking water. He said: "On the main island of Saint Vincent, we have had substantial damage, horrendous damage but not to the same extent as the devastation in the southern part. It could be hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage and loss."

In the Grenadines, the hurricane destroyed homes and knocked out power as it passed through. The hurricane also damaged or destroyed 90 percent of homes on the nation’s Union Island.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) sent a crew to fly straight into the eye of Hurricane Beryl to collect data for future forecasting and research. The plane they used, nicknamed “Miss Piggy,” is one of only two aircraft in the world built to specifically fly into the eye of a hurricane, according to the US Air Force.

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