Hurricane Beryl made landfall Monday as a powerful Category 4 storm on the Caribbean island of Carriacou in Grenada, as forecasters warned that the first major hurricane of the Atlantic season would bring "extremely dangerous" conditions.
The National Hurricane Center said "life-threatening winds and dangerous storm surge" were beginning in the Windward Islands as the eyewall of Beryl —a powerful Category 4 — moved over Carriacou Island. Beryl was expected to move across the southeastern and central Caribbean Monday through Wednesday.Hurricane warnings remained in effect Monday afternoon for St. Vincent and the Grenadine Islands and Grenada, while earlier warnings for Barbados and Tobago have been lifted. Jamaica was under a hurricane watch. Tropical storm warnings were in place for Martinique and St. Lucia.
A hurricane warning is ordered when hurricane conditions are imminent and "preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion" within the warning area, according to the hurricane center, while a hurricane watch indicates that conditions are possible within 48 hours. A tropical storm warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected in the warning area within 36 hours.
As of 2 p.m. Monday, Beryl was centered about 65 miles northwest of Grenada and 60 miles west-northwest of Carriacou Island, trackingwest-northwest at 20 mph with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph.
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 40 miles from the center of the storm, and tropical-storm-force winds extend up to 125 miles out, the National Hurricane Center said.
"Remain in place through the passage of these life-threatening conditions and do not venture out in the eye of the storm," the hurricane center warned people in the storm's path.
After passing Barbados, Beryl was expected to to head into the Caribbean Sea as a major hurricane on a path toward Jamaica. It was forecast to weaken by midweek, but still remain a hurricane while heading toward Mexico.
