SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) – A dangerous and extremely powerful Hurricane Beryl made landfall Monday on the Caribbean island of Carriacou after becoming the earliest storm of Category 4 strength to form in the Atlantic, fueled by record warm waters.
Winds up to 150 mph (240 kph), just shy of a Category 5 storm, blew off roofs, uprooted trees and caused other damage on Carriacou, one of the islands of Grenada, and elsewhere in the southeast Caribbean.
“This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation,” the National Hurricane Center said.
Hurricane warnings were in effect for Barbados, Grenada, Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines as thousands of people hunkered down in homes and shelters. The last strong hurricane to hit the southeast Caribbean was Hurricane Ivan 20 years ago, which killed dozens of people in Grenada.
NBC Radio in St. Vincent and the Grenadines said it received reports of roofs being torn off churches and schools as communications began collapsing across the southeast Caribbean.
In nearby Grenada, officials received “reports of devastation” from Carriacou and surrounding islands, said Terence Walters, Grenada’s national disaster coordinator. Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said he would travel to Carriacou as soon as it’s safe,
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