Mexico’s TULUM (AP) — Before tearing off roofs in Jamaica, jumbling fishing boats in Barbados, and damaging or completely destroying 95% of the dwellings on two islands in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Hurricane Beryl made landfall early on Thursday and turned her attention to the Caribbean coast of Mexico. Nine persons were killed at least.
Early on Thursday, the storm that had been the first in the Atlantic to strengthen into a Category 5 hurricane downgraded to a Category 3, but it was still a significant hurricane.
On Wednesday afternoon, Beryl’s eye wall passed close to Jamaica’s southern shore. Jamaica, according to Prime Minister Andrew Holness, had not yet witnessed the “worst of what could possibly happen.”
In Kingston, branches and telephone poles were obstructing the roads on Thursday morning.
Authorities announced on Wednesday that a young man, while attempting to collect a ball, was washed into a storm water drain and died. Another woman perished when a house fell on top of her.
Residents started removing debris during a lull in the rain.
Along with a scarcity of water and inadequate telecommunications, sixty-five percent of the island was still without electricity. The government was evaluating the damage, but their efforts were impeded by poor communication, particularly in the southern parishes that sustained the greatest damage.
Upon visiting the south-central parish of Clarendon, one could observe the locals working to repair damaged roofs and remove fallen trees. Numerous local roads were still partially blocked by fallen telephone and power poles.
With a machete in hand, Seymour worked with other locals to clean the rubble, and he was thankful that neither he nor his neighbors lost their lives.
He declined to provide his last name, saying, “I am just thankful for life even though Beryl destroyed a lot of roofs and we don’t have any water or light (electricity).”
“Weakening is forecast during the next day or two, though Beryl is forecast to remain a hurricane until it makes landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula,” according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Although the popular Caribbean coast of Mexico constructed shelters, evacuated several small outlying coastal villages, and even moved sea turtle eggs off beaches threatened by storm surge, tourists continued to spend one more night in nightlife hotspots like Playa del Carmen and Tulum.
On Thursday, the majority of shops in Playa del Carmen were closed and others had boarded up their windows while locals strolled their dogs and visitors jogged under bright sky. The Mexican Navy was cruising Tulum’s streets, warning visitors to get ready for the storm in both Spanish and English. By midday, everything was supposed to close.
On Thursday, 34-year-old Dallas, Texas visitor Myriam Setra was enjoying a sandwich on the sand. Beryl had not convinced her to depart early, and her trip home was booked for Friday.
Setra stated, “I decided that I’d rather be stuck in Mexico for an extra day than return to the United States two days early.” I went ahead and bought a large quantity of goods. I assumed that today would be the last to see the sun. After that, we’re just going to have to stay indoors and hope that it passes.
The core of the storm was located roughly 330 miles (530 kilometers) east-southeast of Tulum and 95 miles (150 kilometers) west-southwest of Grand Cayman island. It was traveling 18 mph (about 30 kph) in a west-northwest direction with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (185 kph).
Juliana O’Connor, the premier of the Cayman Islands, expressed gratitude to locals and guests on Thursday for adhering to storm procedures and fostering the “collective calm” that existed before Beryl.
During a press conference, she declared, “We have done everything that we could have done to face the various challenges ahead of us.”
When Beryl makes landfall early on Friday on a largely uninhabited section of Mexico’s Caribbean coast south of Tulum, it is predicted to be a Category 1 hurricane, according to Laura Velázquez, head of the country’s civil defense department.
However, she added that Beryl is predicted to reappear in the Gulf of Mexico a day later and might make landfall near Matamoros, which is the Mexican-American border. Tropical Storm Alberto had previously saturated that region in June.
According to Velázquez, in case they become necessary, makeshift storm shelters are being erected at hotels and schools. She had only partially succeeded in her attempts to evacuate a few severely vulnerable villages, such as Punta Allen, which is located on a short spit of land south of Tulum.
Throughout a large portion of the southeast Caribbean, the storm had already demonstrated its capacity for destruction.
The worst of Beryl’s trajectory may have occurred earlier when it collided with two tiny Lesser Antilles islands.
Hurricane Beryl has damaged nearly 95% of the homes in Mayreau and Union Island, according to Michelle Forbes, the National Emergency Management Organization’s director for St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
According to officials, three fatalities were confirmed in Grenada, Carriacou, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Four persons were reported missing and three more deaths were recorded in northern Venezuela, according to officials.
The Associated Press was informed by Grenada’s environment minister, Kerryne James, that one death happened as a result of a tree falling on a house.
The prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, has pledged to reconstruct the archipelago.
