Hurricane Beryl, which was lashing the southeastern Caribbean with life-threatening winds on Monday, made history before it even made landfall.
When Beryl strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane Sunday morning, it become the first major hurricane east of the Lesser Antilles on record for June, according to Philip Klotzbach, Colorado State University hurricane researcher.
It took Beryl only 42 hours to strengthen from a tropical depression to a major hurricane — a feat accomplished only six other times in Atlantic hurricane history, and with Sept. 1 as the previous earliest date, hurricane expert Sam Lillo said.
Beryl then gained more power, becoming the earliest Category 4 Atlantic hurricane on record, besting Hurricane Dennis, which became a Category 4 storm on July 8, 2005, hurricane specialist and storm surge expert Michael Lowry said.
"Beryl is an extremely dangerous and rare hurricane for this time of year in this area," Lowry said in a phone interview.
"Unusual is an understatement," he said, calling it a "historic" hurricane.
Hurricane Ivan in 2004 was the last strong hurricane to hit the southeastern Caribbean, causing catastrophic damage in Grenada as a Category 3 storm.
"So this is a serious threat, a very serious threat," Lowry said of Beryl.
Beryl amassed its strength from record warm waters that are hotter now than they would be at the peak of hurricane season in September, he said.
Among those weathering the storm was Jaswinderpal Parmar of Fresno, California, who had traveled to Barbados for Saturday's Twenty20 World Cup final, cricket's biggest event. He and his family were now stuck there with scores of other fans, their flights canceled on Sunday.
He said by phone that it's the first time he has experienced a hurricane, with heavy rain starting at midnight. He and his family have been praying, as well as taking calls from concerned friends and family as far away as India.
"We couldn't sleep last night," Parmar, 47, said. "We were keeping an eye on it."
Long lines formed at gas stations and grocery stores in Barbados and other islands as people rushed to prepare for the storm that rapidly intensified. Peter Corbin, 71, helped his son put up plywood to protect his home's glass doors. He said by phone that he worried about Beryl's impact on islands just east of Barbados.
"That's like a butcher cutting up a pig," he said. "They've got to make a bunker somewhere. It's going to be tough."
In St. Lucia, Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre announced a national shutdown for Sunday evening and said schools and businesses would remain closed Monday.
"Preservation and protection of life is a priority," he said.
Caribbean leaders were preparing not only for Beryl, but for a cluster of thunderstorms trailing the hurricane that had a 70% chance of becoming a tropical depression.
Beryl is the second named storm in what is forecast to be an above-average hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 in the Atlantic. Earlier this month, Tropical Storm Alberto came ashore in northeastern Mexico with heavy rains that resulted in four deaths.
On Sunday evening, a tropical depression formed near the eastern Mexico coastal city of Veracruz, with the National Hurricane Center warning of flooding and mudslides.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts the 2024 hurricane season is likely to be well above average, with between 17 and 25 named storms. The forecast calls for as many as 13 hurricanes and four major hurricanes.
An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 14 named storms, seven of them hurricanes and three major hurricanes.
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