Hurricane Beryl will move through six US states, according to a fearsome model.
The powerful Category 5 storm has already killed six people and caused significant damage after gusts of 165 mph (265 km/h) battered parts of the Caribbean.
Earlier models showed the hurricane could reach the US this weekend.
Parts of Texas have now been officially added to the hurricane forecast cone by the National Hurricane Center, with locals in the south warned to prepare for heavy rain and gusty winds starting Monday.
According to a model by hurricane expert Dr. Levi Cowan, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky could also be hit by the storm.
Hurricane Beryl is expected to tear through six U.S. states, according to a scary model shown here on the pink line. Each of the different colored strands are spaghetti models that represent a possible path for the storm, depending on various meteorological factors.
At least five of the so-called spaghetti models now indicate the hurricane will hit the US.
Spaghetti models are threads that represent the possible paths of tropical cyclones.
Beryl notes that most of the five models impacting the US have Texas as a target, but there is another scenario that suggests Louisiana could also see some impact, with a possibility of the storm hitting all six states.
“It really depends on where the hurricane comes from on Friday. If it comes off the Yucatan Peninsula and goes far enough north, it could gain width and threaten the northwest Gulf of Mexico. That could mean northern Mexico or Texas and the U.S. Gulf Coast,” Dr. Cowan said.
“But if the storm moves further down, for example if it is a weaker storm, then it will likely move further west, towards eastern Mexico.”
Beryl’s path is determined by the pressure over the southeast
If this drops, the storm could move north and potentially spell disaster for the US.
Gulf Coast residents are urged to monitor the record-breaking storm, the earliest Category 5 hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Central America.
The powerful Category 5 storm has already killed six people and caused significant damage after gusts of 165 mph (265 kph) battered parts of the Caribbean
Parts of Texas have now been added to the hurricane forecast cone by the National Hurricane Center
Jamaica was in a state of emergency as the island was declared a disaster area hours before Hurricane Beryl hit on Wednesday
On Wednesday, the Beryl raced towards Jamaica as islanders rushed to make preparations.
In Kingston, people boarded up windows, fishermen pulled their boats out of the water and sat around a table playing dominoes by the bay. Workers removed billboards along the road to protect them from the expected high winds.
A hurricane warning was in effect for Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. Beryl was expected to weaken slightly over the next day or two.
However, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said the hurricane is expected to reach or near major hurricane strength as it passes over Jamaica, the Cayman Islands on Thursday and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Friday.
Jamaica was under a state of emergency as the island had been declared a disaster area just hours before Hurricane Beryl hit.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the disaster zone declaration would remain in effect for the next seven days. Holness also announced an island-wide curfew from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday.
The security forces will be fully mobilized to maintain law and order and assist in disaster response.
People walk among damaged properties after Hurricane Beryl passed through Union Island, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
“Once the hurricane passes, security forces have developed strategic plans to counter potential threats of looting or other opportunistic crimes,” Holness warned.
An evacuation order was also issued for communities across Jamaica that are prone to flooding and landslides, with Holness urging Jamaicans to move away from low-lying areas.
A hurricane warning was in effect for the southern coast of Haiti and the eastern coast of Yucatan. Belize issued a tropical storm warning extending from the border with Mexico to Belize City.
Beryl became the first storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic on Monday evening. On Tuesday, the hurricane reached winds of 165 mph (265 km/h), before weakening to a still-destructive Category 4 hurricane.
On Wednesday morning, the storm was about 125 miles southeast of Kingston. Maximum sustained winds were 145 mph and the storm was moving west-northwest at 20 mph, the center said.
Hurricane Beryl tore through the island of St. Lucia leaving a trail of destruction
A man looks at damaged vehicles after devastating floods ravaged the town after Hurricane Beryl passed off the coast of Venezuela, in Cumanacoa, Venezuela, July 2, 2024
Mexico’s Caribbean coast braced for Beryl on Wednesday.
Hurricane I is expected to deliver a rare double blow to Mexico, according to the head of the country’s civil protection agency.
Laura Velázquez said the storm is expected to make landfall between Thursday night and Friday morning on a relatively sparsely populated stretch of the Caribbean coast between Tulum and the inland town of Felipe Carrillo Puerto.
The hurricane is expected to weaken to a tropical storm as it crosses the Yucatan Peninsula and re-enter the Gulf of Mexico at gale force over the weekend.
Velázquez said Beryl is expected to make a second stop in Mexican territory, in the Gulf Coast states of Veracruz and Tamaulipas, near the border with Texas.
As Beryl tore through the Caribbean Sea, rescue teams spread out from southeastern islands to assess the extent of the damage the hurricane had caused on Carriacou, an island in Grenada.
Authorities said three people were killed in Grenada and Carriacou and another in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Two other deaths were reported in northern Venezuela, where five people are missing, officials said. About 25,000 people in that area were also affected by heavy rains from Beryl.
The storm is expected to weaken as it moves west, but will still be near hurricane strength as it passes over Jamaica.
Storm clouds hang over the mountains as people make final preparations for the arrival of Hurricane Beryl on July 3, 2024 in Kingston, Jamaica
According to Environment Minister Kerryne James, one person died in Grenada after a tree fell on a house.
Carriacou and Petit Martinique suffered the most damage, with dozens of homes and businesses in Carriacou destroyed.
Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said Tuesday that there is no power, roads are impassable and the death toll could rise “a grim reality.”
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines has pledged to rebuild the archipelago.
He noted that 90 percent of the homes on Union Island had been destroyed and that “a similar level of destruction” was expected on Myreau and Canouan islands.
The last major hurricane to hit the southeastern Caribbean was Hurricane Ivan 20 years ago, which killed dozens of people in Grenada.