Port operations suspended as Hurricane Beryl hits Windward Islands

Hurricane Beryl made landfall on Grenada's Carriacou Island at 11:10 local time (13:10 GMT) on Monday, tearing through the Windward Islands just hours after intensifying into a powerful Category 4 storm.

MAP: The projected path of Hurricane Beryl. NWS

With sustained winds of 150 mph, Beryl is expected to remain an "extremely dangerous” major hurricane as it moves through the southeastern Caribbean, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC). The NHC has warned that Beryl, the first major hurricane of this Atlantic season, will bring life-threatening winds and storm surge to the Windward Islands.

The Windward Islands include Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and Dominica.

In anticipation of the storm, all port operations in St. Eustatius, Trinidad, off Curacao, Aruba, and Puerto Rico have been suspended since Friday night. The port of Kingston is also expected to close on Wednesday.

Beryl is forecast to move into the Gulf of Mexico by the end of the week. This could cause delays, especially near Corpus Christi, depending on the storm’s path and strength, a source says.

Beryl has set records as the first Category 4 hurricane this year, and the first major hurricane to form east of the Lesser Antilles. After reaching Category 4 status on Sunday, Beryl weakened slightly to a Category 3 overnight, before regaining strength early Monday.

By Debarati Bhattacharjee

Please get in touch with comments or additional info to news@engine.online