'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.
Storm chaser Brandon Clement documented the sights and sounds of Hurricane Beryl as it made landfall in Carriacou, Grenada, as a Category 4 storm on July 1.
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 six fatalities have been reported in the wake of the powerful storm, including three in Grenada, another in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and two people in northern Venezuela, 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.
As a Category 4 storm, Beryl tore through Grenada on July 1, with effects reaching Barbados, St. Lucia and Venezuela. Now, the dangerous hurricane has Jamaica in its sights next.
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."
This drone video, captured by storm chaser Brandon Clement, shows scenes of devastation on the island of Carriacou after Hurricane Beryl slammed into the coast as a Category 4 storm.
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.
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