Hurricane Beryl hits Caribbean as ‘potentially catastrophic’ Category 4 storm

Hurricane Beryl has intensified to Category 4 upon reaching the eastern Caribbean, bringing potentially catastrophic hurricane-force winds, a life-threatening storm surge, and damaging waves, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

The storm made landfall on Carriacou Island late Monday morning. The hurricane’s sustained winds have reached 150 mph.

The life-threatening storm could cause devastation in communities across the eastern Caribbean. Some 400 people were evacuated to hurricane shelters in Barbados on Sunday, and airports in Barbados, Grenada, and Saint Lucia closed on Sunday night. Beryl has already set records as the earliest recorded Category 4 and the first major hurricane to reach east of the Lesser Antilles in June.

Experts say Hurricane Beryl marks the beginning of an unusually early hurricane season. Record-warm Ocean temperatures caused the storm to develop from a tropical depression to a hurricane in just two days.