WATCH:‘It’s bad and we have not seen the worst yet.’ Initial damage reports from Beryl

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES

Hurricane Beryl, a monster with 150 mph winds, ripped off roofs, snapped trees and shut down power as it raked the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean on Monday.

It was too early to fully assess the toll of the Category 4 hurricane but the initial reports suggested widespread damage and flooding from storm surge. “It’s bad and we have not seen the worst yet.

The next few hours are going to be worse,” St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves told the Miami Herald in an interview around noon on Monday as the core of the storm approached.

“As it reaches close to us, we will be getting the full effect of the hurricane.” Gonsalves said the eye’s passage over the southern Grenadines “has caused severe damage in Grenada and we are getting the other bands of the wind.”

“We’re getting lots of rains, massive wave action. A lot of houses have lost their roofs and the brunt hasn’t hit us yet,” Gonsalves said. “In Carriacou they’ve lost a lot of roofs, and in Union Islands.”

Wind gusts of 175 mph were registered for Carriacou and Petite Martinique in the southern Grenadines.

Beryl hit the southern section of a string of islands known as the Windwards as the strongest hurricane recorded this early in the season.

In preparations for the hurricane’s passage, several islands in the storm’s path shut down early on Sunday, which included ceasing all air travel. Ahead of the storm Gonsalves declared a disaster area for the whole country, while Grenada’s government declared a state of emergency.

“It’s bad no question about it, a lot of homes are down, electricity is off. It’s bad, it’s bad,” Gonsalves said.