Beryl, the first hurricane of the season this year is rapidly intensifying in the Atlantic Ocean. According to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), the tropical storm has intensified into a hurricane, cautioning that it may undergo rapid strengthening as it approaches the Caribbean island of Barbados.
The NHC had stated that the storm was travelling carrying maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour. A hurricane warning was issued for Barbados, expecting the weather conditions to worsen by Sunday night.
Hurricane warnings were also issued in Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada. Other regions including Windward islands, Martinique, Dominica, and Tobago were put on tropical storm warnings alert.
“A life-threatening storm surge will raise water levels by as much as 5 to 7 feet above normal tide levels in areas of onshore flow near where Beryl makes landfall in the hurricane warning and watch areas," the forecaster said.
"Near the coast, the surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves," NHC added.
According to NHC, Beryl would produce total rainfall of 3-6 inches (7.5 to 15 cm) across Barbados on Sunday night and may continue into Monday. It will also bring 1-4 inches of over portions of southeastern Puerto Rico, which is expected to happen on Monday night into Tuesday, reported Reuters.
Beryl rapidly intensified since it became a tropical depression on Friday and a tropical storm on Saturday.
Beryl is expected to cause flooding in many regions by Monday. Flood alerts were issued in Barbados and Puerto Rico along with western Caribbean regions.
According to forecasts, Beryl could pose a threat to Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Belize and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula later this week.
NHC forecasted it would become an "extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane" by the time it hit Caribbean communities. A Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale is considered a major hurricane, and a Category 4 storm packs sustained winds of at least 130 miles per hour (209 kilometres per hour).
(With agencies inputs)
