SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (news agencies) — Hurricane Beryl roared through open waters on Tuesday as a monstrous Category 5 storm on a path that would take it near Jamaica and the Cayman Islands after earlier making landfall in the southeast Caribbean, killing at least two people.
A hurricane warning was in effect for Jamaica and a hurricane watch for Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. Beryl was forecast to start losing intensity on Tuesday but still to be near major hurricane strength when it passes near Jamaica on Wednesday, the Cayman Islands on Thursday and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Friday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Beryl is the earliest Category 5 storm ever to form in the Atlantic, fueled by record warm waters.
Early Tuesday, the storm was located about 370 miles (595 kilometers) southeast of Isla Beata in the Dominican Republic. It had top winds of 165 mph (270 kph) and was moving west-northwest at 22 mph (35 kph).
“Beryl remains an impressive Category 5 hurricane,” the National Hurricane Center said.
A tropical storm warning was in place for the entire southern coast of Hispaniola, an island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
As the storm barreled through the Caribbean Sea, rescue crews in the southeast Caribbean fanned out across the region to determine the extent of the damage that Hurricane Beryl inflicted after landing on Carriacou, an island in Grenada, as a Category 4 storm.
One person was reported killed in Grenada and another in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, officials said.
An emergency team was expected to travel to Carriacou on Tuesday morning.
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