Hurricane Beryl, already designated as extremely dangerous, has been upgraded to category 5 and is now considered a hurricane that can cause catastrophic damage as it moves through southeastern Caribbean. This is warned by the American weather agency National Hurricane Center.
The hurricane, which has been given the name Beryl, may be the strongest to hit the area since Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and warnings have been issued for, among others, Barbados and Tobago.
When Beryl made landfall on the island of Carriacou on Monday, still classified as category 4, it blew away doors, windows, and roofs. According to Grenada's Prime Minister, one person has died in the storm. Beryl moved southeast of an island in the Dominican Republic and is heading towards Jamaica on Wednesday.
Beryl is the first, unusually early, major storm of the hurricane season. Its formation has been driven by the unusually warm water in the area, described as bathtub warm.
