'The situation is grim': Death toll rises after Beryl pummels Windward Islands

Intense winds ripped apart buildings and shredded trees as Hurricane Beryl blasted the island chain, leaving several dead amid widespread destruction.

Hurricane Beryl shattered records as it unleashed its fury across the Windward Islands, leaving behind a trail of destruction unprecedented for this point in the hurricane season. The monstrous storm made landfall on Carriacou at 11 a.m. EDT Monday as a Category 4 with winds of 140, the first time a hurricane has made landfall on the island since recordkeeping began in the 1850s. Beryl strengthened into a rare Category 5 hurricane early Monday night after passing over the islands.

At least four fatalities have been reported in the wake of the powerful storm, including three in Grenada and another in St. Vincent, according to The Associated Press. Officials warned the death toll could rise in the coming days.

Intense winds ripped apart buildings and snapped trees in Carriacou, Grenada, during the height of the hurricane late Sunday night and early Monday.

Conditions started to improve late Monday as Beryl shifted over the Caribbean Sea, allowing people across the islands to assess the destruction.

“The situation is grim,” Grenadian Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell told a news conference Tuesday, according to the AP. “There is no power, and there is almost complete destruction of homes and buildings on the island."

Boats were strewn across Barbados's shorelines, where winds and storm surge carried them inland, leaving them aground as the storm waters receded. Roads were also cluttered with debris, making travel to remote areas a monumental task.

Hurricane Beryl continues to charge across the Caribbean and is expected to swipe Jamaica at midweek before arriving in Mexico before the weekend. AccuWeather meteorologists warn that the storm could then track across the Gulf of Mexico and impact parts of the United States.