Hurricane Beryl strikes Jamaica, Mexico Prepares for Impact
Image Credits: USA Today
Hurricane Beryl struck Jamaica on Wednesday, killing at least one person, and brought fierce winds and heavy storms to the region while forging a water-soaked path across the smaller Caribbean islands in the past couple of days. The total number of deaths caused by the Category 4 hurricane has increased to 10 and is expected to rise further when communication with the island, damaged by floods and heavy rains, comes back online.
Hurricane Beryl is the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic Season and has made history as the earliest hurricane to reach the highest ranking possible, Category 5, before weakening to a Category 4 hurricane as it heads towards Mexico. The hurricane is thought to be driven by record-breaking temperatures primarily caused by the effects of climate change and cyclical weather patterns. The loss and damage brought about by Beryl stand as a testament to the possible long-term consequences of a warmer Atlantic ocean, which scientists cite as impacts of extreme weather changes fueled by human activity.
The hurricane’s eyewall passed by the island’s southern coast, and emergency groups rushed to evacuate people living in flood-prone areas, while communities suffered the damage caused by the catastrophe. Richard Thompson, acting director general at Jamaica’s disaster agency, said in an interview with the local news that a woman died in Jamaica’s Hanover parish after a tree fell on her home. He also added that nearly a thousand Jamaicans were in shelters by Wednesday evening. Prime Minister Andrew Holness issued a nationwide curfew in Jamaica on Wednesday and urged residents in vulnerable regions to evacuate as soon as possible. “We can do as much as we can do, as (is) humanly possible, and we leave the rest in the hands of God,” Holness said. Power shortages were also rampant across the country, with several roads completely washed out. Union Island has been the most severely affected so far, as 90% of buildings have been destroyed.
Nerissa Gittens-McMillan, permanent secretary at St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ agriculture ministry, warned of possible food shortages following the utter destruction of Jamaica’s crops and agriculture industry. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has predicted that we are yet to witness a large number of hurricanes in an “extraordinary season” this year.
The NHC has warned that Beryl would most likely make its way towards Mexico as early as Thursday night. Laura Velázquez, head of Mexico’s civil defense agency, says that the hurricane is expected to make a rare double strike in the region. It would weaken to a tropical storm as it passes by the Yucatan peninsula and reemerge over the weekend at strength in the Gulf of Mexico and hit Mexico a second time in the Gulf coast states of Veracruz or Tamaulipas. Although Beryl is expected to make landfall in a relatively unpopulated area of the Caribbean coast between Tulum and the inland town of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, the few hotels and resorts in the area house a significant number of tourists, to whom warnings have been issued to ensure their safety.
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