Hurricane Beryl live updates: Storm batters Jamaica before charting path to Cayman Islands

Barbados was caught in the tail end of Hurricane Beryl, which passed by the island on Monday as a Category 4 storm with winds of at least 130mph, enough to cause significant damage.

Fishermen in the region said that all the boats at the Bridgetown marina suffered some degree of damage, while a few entirely sank under big waves that washed over the docks. Footage shows the water in the marina littered with the debris of smashed boats.

The center of Hurricane Beryl, remaining a dangerous Category 3 storm, is passing just 50 miles (80km) southwest of Grand Cayman as of 8am EDT this morning.

Reports from a NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft states that maximum sustained winds are near 120 mph (195 km/h) with higher gusts as Beryl tears into the region.

Beryl’s hurricane-force winds are currently extending outward up to 45 miles (75 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 175 miles (280 km).

Storm surges could raise water levels along the immediate coast of the Cayman Islands as much as two to four feet above normal, bringing with it large and destructive waves.

Beryl is also bringing rainfall totals of four to six inches over the Cayman Islands on Thursday, the same expected for the Yucatan Peninsula later today into Friday. The Yucatan Peninsula could see localized amounts of 10 inches as well.

Scattered instances of flash flooding is expected over the region and large surf swells currently impacting portions of the coast of Jamaica, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands, which have the potential to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.

These swells are also predicted to spread to the Yucatan Peninsula and portions of Central America later today and to eastern Mexico and much of the Gulf Coast of the US by late Friday .

Preparations were already underway before the hurricane reached the Cayman Islands, after Beryl already left a path of destruction it its wake this week through Jamaica, Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

More than 1,000 people in the Cayman Islands were evacuated, George Town officials said, as two dozen additional flights were added to help with the evacuations off the islands, The New York Times reported.

Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly appeared on Radio Cayman on Wednesday, according to the newspaper, and strongly urged residents to stay in place beginning at 6pm Wednesday until an all-clear was issued.

“Let us remain calm, stay prepared, look after one another as we face this challenge together,” she said. “We can minimize the impact of Hurricane Beryl and protect our community if we do it together.”

After Hurricane Beryl passed near Jamaica on Wednesday, its hurricane conditions brought destruction to homes, power outages and the confirmed death of at least one person.

However, the island is no stranger to the wrath of deadly hurricanes ripping through the region.

While many hurricanes have passed near Jamaica in recent years, only a few have actually made landfall in the country in the past 40 years.

The most notable hurricane was one named Gilbert, which made landfall near Kingston, Jamaica on September 12, 1988 as a Category 4 hurricane, and remains an infamous storm event in the country.

The catastrophic storm sustained winds of 130mph, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage and leading to the deaths of at least 45 people.

The eye of Hurricane Gilbert barrelled its way across the entire island of Jamaica, only weakening back to 125 mph by the time it emerged from its western coast by late afternoon.

Other notable hurricanes that significantly hit Jamaica include Hurricane Sandy, which made landfall in 2012 as a Category 1 hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center has said there is uncertainty in the track and intensity forecast of Beryl over the western Gulf of Mexico this weekend.

Interests in eastern Mexico and southern Texas should monitor Beryl’s progress, yet regardless of what path the hurricane takes, rip currents could cause life-threatening beach conditions beginning late Friday and through the weekend across much of the Gulf Coast.

Meanwhile, hurricane-force winds, dangerous storm surge and heavy rainfall is expected over portions of the Yucatan Peninsula and Belize beginning Thursday night as Beryl approaches, with strong winds, dangerous storm surge, damaging waves and flooding expected in the Cayman Islands today.

Laura Velazquez, the head of Mexico’s civil defence agency said the hurricane is expected to make landfall along a relatively unpopulated stretch of the Caribbean coast between Tulum and the inland town of Felipe Carrillo Puerto.

Because the coast there is largely made up of lagoons and mangroves, there are few resorts or hotels in the area south of Tulum.

Ms Velazquez said that Beryl is then expected to hit Mexican territory a second time in the Gulf coast states of Veracruz or Tamaulipas, near the Texas border.

If Hurricane Beryl maintains its strength, it has the potential to hit southern Texas and Louisiana over the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

Despite overcast weather in Delhi, the mood on the team’s arrival from Barbados was lifted by dhol beats, flower bouquets and cakes bearing the winning team’s photos.

Hundreds of thousands of homes are without power in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl’s destruction after its conditions hit Jamaica on Wednesday.

The country’s energy provider, JPS, said that 65 per cent, which is around 400,000 of its customers, were left without power on Thursday morning.

The Jamaican government said on Wednesday several roadways in the country’s interior settlements were impacted by fallen trees and utility poles, while some communities in the northern section and the capital were without electricity.