Jamaica pounded by winds and rain as Hurricane Beryl brushes island

Residents of Jamaica hunkered down as heavy rains and punishing winds from Hurricane Beryl pounded the island. The center of the Category 4 storm passed just south of Jamaica Wednesday afternoon. At least six deaths have been attributed to Beryl since it began its march through the Caribbean earlier this week. Amna Nawaz reports.

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Amna Nawaz: Residents of Jamaica hunkered down today as heavy rains and punishing winds from Hurricane Beryl pounded the island. Power was out across much of the capital, Kingston. The center of the Category 4 storm passed just south of Jamaica this afternoon. At least six deaths have been attributed to Beryl since it began its march through the Caribbean earlier this week.

New images reveal the extent of the devastation brought by the record-breaking Hurricane Beryl after the storm slammed into islands across the Southeast Caribbean on Monday with heavy rain and ferocious winds.

Seymour Laborde, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Resident: It’s hard to think about it. It’s hard to see it. I don’t even want my enemies to go through such a storm, such a devastation. It’s really tough.

Amna Nawaz: Communities left with no water or power, boats tossed onto the shore, and entire neighborhood reduced to mangled heaps of metal.

Marlon Gibson, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Resident: This is actually the strongest storm that we have had come through Saint Vincent in my lifetime.

Amna Nawaz: Marlon Gibson lives in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which took a direct hit.

Marlon Gibson: You’re really just hoping for the best. And all around me there were houses in the village. Their roofs were flying past. You could see it passing. It was just a terrifying experience.

Amna Nawaz: Nearly all of the residents of one of Saint Vincent’s small islands were left homeless. With nowhere to go, many are now making their way to the capital, Kingstown.

Sharon DeRoche is among them. She rode out Beryl in her bathroom.

Sharon DeRoche, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Resident: The whole thing opened up. And it was a hard four hours battling.

Amna Nawaz: And, in Grenada, the prime minister said communications were down and almost nothing was left standing on the island of Carriacou. Satellite images showed a grim before-and-after from above.

Dickon Mitchell, Prime Minister of Grenada: To see this level of destruction, it is almost Armageddon-like, almost total damage or destruction of all buildings, whether they be public buildings, homes or other private facilities.

Amna Nawaz: Relief efforts by the United Nations, local governments and nonprofit groups are now underway across the region. Once Beryl passes by Jamaica, the hurricane is set to head next toward the Cayman Islands.

It’s forecast to reach Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Friday morning, and its remnants will likely reach Southern Texas by Monday. Seen here from space, Beryl’s winds peaked at 165 miles an hour earlier this week, making it the earliest Category 5 storm in recorded history and the strongest July hurricane ever, its massive size fueled partly by climate change.

Michael Lowry is a meteorologist and hurricane specialist for WPLG-TV in Miami.

Michael Lowry, Meteorologist, WPLG-TV: There’s no doubt that the warmer waters are due primarily because of the warming climate. And we are seeing the effects of that in stronger hurricanes.

Hurricane Beryl moved over the warmest waters that we have ever reported in the Atlantic, going back 40-plus years.

Amna Nawaz: This unprecedented storm, Lowry says, is kicking off what’s expected to be one of the most active hurricane seasons on record.

Michael Lowry: Water temperatures going from 80 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit could mean a fivefold increase in devastating flooding rainfall, on top of the greater potential for these storms to more rapidly intensify.

Amna Nawaz: And as countries in the storm’s wake reckon with Beryl’s aftermath, weary residents are preparing for a long hurricane season ahead.

Back in this country, much of the U.S. will be facing extreme heat over the Fourth of July weekend, with heat indexes reaching into the triple digits. We’re going to look at that and new rules to protect workers from heat later in the program.