Hurricane Beryl Heading Toward Jamaica As A Massive Category 5 Storm

Hurricane Beryl continues to strengthen and is now a monstrous Category 5 storm with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph. Beryl tore through the Windward Islands on Monday (July 1), leaving at least one person dead.

The storm left a path of destruction, flattening homes across St. Vincent, Grenada, and the Grenadines and knocking out power and phones for many people across the group of islands.

"There may well be more fatalities. We are not yet sure," St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said .

Hurricane Beryl is heading toward Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, bringing up 12 inches of rain and a storm surge of six feet above normal tide levels.

"Weakening should begin later today, but Beryl is still expected to be near major hurricane intensity as it moves into the central Caribbean and passes near Jamaica on Wednesday and the Cayman Islands on Thursday. Additional weakening is expected thereafter, though Beryl is forecast to remain a hurricane in the northwestern Caribbean," the National Hurricane Center said .