Caribbean braces as Beryl strengthens to 'extremely dangerous' Category 4 hurricane

Beryl, the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season, strengthened into an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm Sunday as it threatened the southeast Caribbean with potentially life-threatening winds and storm surge, US trackers said.

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned residents that Beryl -- currently churning in the Atlantic Ocean about 350 miles (565 kilometers) east of Barbados -- was creating a "very dangerous situation" and to heed local government and emergency management instructions.

Beryl "is now an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane," it said, noting that the storm's eye is expected to move early on Monday across the Windward Islands, a cluster of islands including Martinique, Saint Lucia and Grenada, among others.

The storm will produce "potentially catastrophic hurricane-force winds, a life-threatening storm surge, and damaging waves," the NHC forecast said.

Barbados, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and Tobago were all under hurricane warnings, while tropical storm warnings or watches were in effect for Martinique, Dominica and Trinidad, the NHC said in its latest advisory.

In the Barbadian capital of Bridgetown, cars were seen lined up at gas stations, while supermarkets and grocery stores were crowded with shoppers buying food, water and other supplies. Some households were already boarding up their properties.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines as well as Grenada were at the highest risk of being at the center of the storm's core beginning early Monday, the NHC said.

- Devastating wind damage -

A Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale is considered a major hurricane, and a Category 4 storm packs sustained winds of at least 130 miles per hour (209 kilometers per hour).

Beryl was packing maximum sustained winds that were estimated at 130 mph, the NHC said around 11:35 am (1535 GMT) Sunday, as it warned of "heavy rainfall and localized flooding."

Beryl is expected to remain powerful as it moves across the Caribbean, the NHC said, warning residents and officials in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and the rest of the northwestern Caribbean to carefully monitor its progress.

Such a powerful storm forming this early in the Atlantic hurricane season -- which runs from early June to late November -- is extremely rare, experts said.

"Only five major (Category 3+) hurricanes have been recorded in the Atlantic before the first week of July. Beryl would be the sixth and earliest this far east in the tropical Atlantic," hurricane expert Michael Lowry posted on social media platform X.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in late May that it expects this year to be an "extraordinary" hurricane season, with up to seven storms of Category 3 or higher.

The agency cited warm Atlantic Ocean temperatures and conditions related to the weather phenomenon La Nina in the Pacific for the expected increase in storms.

Extreme weather events including hurricanes have become more frequent and more devastating in recent years as a result of climate change.