tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOA544002072024RP1-PREVIEW:48000:MP3 mpeg tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOA544002072024RP1-STREAM:22.050:MP3 mpeg tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOA544002072024RP1-STREAM:48000:M4A aac tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOA544002072024RP1-STREAM:48000:MP3 mpeg tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOA544002072024RP1-STREAM:48000:WAV wav tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOA544002072024RP1-STREAM:48000M:WAV wav tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOP544002072024RP1-BASEIMAGE:960X540 jpegBaseline tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOP544002072024RP1-THUMBNAIL:160X90 jpegBaseline tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOP544002072024RP1-THUMBNAILGRID jpegBaseline tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOP544002072024RP1-VIEWIMAGE:512X288 jpegBaseline tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOV544002072024RP1-STREAM:1756:16X9:MP4 H264/mpeg tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOV544002072024RP1-STREAM:2000:16X9:MP4 H264/mpeg tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOV544002072024RP1-STREAM:300:16X9:FLV flashVideo tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOV544002072024RP1-STREAM:300:16X9:MP4 H264/mpeg tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOV544002072024RP1-STREAM:5128:16X9:MP4 H264/mpeg tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOV544002072024RP1-STREAM:512:16X9:FLV flashVideo tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOV544002072024RP1-STREAM:6756:16X9:MPG mpeg tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOV544002072024RP1-STREAM:700:16X9:FLV flashVideo tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOV544002072024RP1-STREAM:700:16X9:MP4 H264/mpeg tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOV544002072024RP1-STREAM:8256:16X9:MP4 H264/mpeg tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOV544002072024RP1-STREAM:8256M:16X9:MP4 H264/mpeg tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOV544002072024RP1-STREAM:CLOSEDCAPTION:SRT srt tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOV544002072024RP1-STREAM:CLOSEDCAPTION:VTT vtt tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LOV544002072024RP1-STREAM:SHOTLIST:JSON json tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LWD544002072024RP1-STREAM:13756:16X9:HD1080I50:MP4 mp4 tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LWD544002072024RP1-STREAM:13756:16X9:HD1080I60:MP4 mp4 tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LWD544002072024RP1-STREAM:1756:16X9:MP4 mp4 tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LWD544002072024RP1-STREAM:2128:16X9:MP4 mp4 tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LWD544002072024RP1-STREAM:6756:16X9:SD525I30:MPG mpeg tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LWD544002072024RP1-STREAM:6756:16X9:SD625I25:MPG mpeg tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LWD544002072024RP1-THUMBNAILGRID jpegBaseline tag:reuters.com,2024:binary_LWD544002072024RP1-VIEWIMAGE:768X432 jpegBaseline GENEVA (Reuters) -Hurricane Beryl, which has strengthened to a Category 5 storm, is setting the tone for a "very dangerous" hurricane season, the World Meteorological Organization said on Tuesday.
Beryl swept through Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines, leaving many households without power, and is expected to hit Jamaica on Wednesday and the Cayman Islands later in the week.
"It's the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Central American basin," WMO spokesperson Clare Nullis told reporters in Geneva.
"It sets a precedent for what we fear is going to be a very, very, very active, very dangerous hurricane season, which will impact the entire basin."
A Category 5 hurricane under the five-step Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale brings winds of 252 kilometers an hour (157 miles per hour) or higher, capable of causing catastrophic damage including the destruction of homes and infrastructure.
"We need to bear in mind that it only takes one land-falling hurricane to set back decades of development," Nullis said.
"We fear what is happening with Hurricane Beryl, which has hit very, very small islands in the Caribbean that are not used to this size of hurricane."
Anne-Claire Fontaine, scientific officer for the WMO Tropical Cyclone Programme, said one reason for Beryl developing so early in the season was linked to warmer ocean temperatures.
"The Main Development Region (MDR), the place in the ocean where the hurricanes are developing... is the warmest ever."
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
Comments / 0