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By Jenna Sundel
News Reporter
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Hurricane Beryl is wreaking havoc across the southeastern Caribbean, with aerial shots revealing ripped doors, windows and roofs as the storm continues its destructive path that has left at least one dead.
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The storm was the earliest Category 4 in the Atlantic Ocean when it made landfall in Grenada, beating a record previously held by 2005 storm Hurricane Dennis. The National Hurricane Center in Miami then said the storm's winds had increased to Category 5 strength on Monday. It was downgraded back to Category 4 on Wednesday.
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Category 4 hurricanes have wind speeds of 130 to 156 mph, while Category 5 hurricanes have wind speeds 157 mph or higher. Hurricane Beryl currently has maximum sustained winds of 145 mph.
Prior to the storm making landfall, the National Hurricane Center warned it was "extremely dangerous."
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The Prime Minister of Grenada Dickon Mitchell confirmed that one person was killed in the hurricane. There could be more, since officials have not finished searching the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique, where communications were mostly down.
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"We do hope there aren't any other fatalities or any injuries," Mitchell said. "But bear in mind the challenge we have in Carriacou and Petite Martinique."
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In St. Lucia, streets were littered with shoes, debris, trees and power lines. The hurricane also created destruction in other Caribbean islands, including Barbados and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
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The storm is heading south of Jamaica and it expected to hit Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula by late Thursday as a Category 1 storm. A hurricane warning was issued for Jamaica and a tropical storm warning was issued for the southern coast of Hispaniola, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Beryl strengthened from a tropical depression to a major hurricane in just 42 hours.
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The last time a strong hurricane hit the southeastern Caribbean was Hurricane Ivan nearly 20 years ago, which led to dozens of deaths in Grenada.
Beryl is the second named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which is June 1 to November 30. Tropical Storm Alberto made landfall in northeast Mexico earlier this month, killing four people.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting 17 to 25 named storms this season, with around 4 to 7 becoming major hurricanes.
The third named storm of the season, Tropical Storm Chris, formed near eastern Mexico on Sunday. It weakened into a depression on Monday.
An average hurricane season has 14 named storms with three major hurricanes.
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