Caribbean on Alert: Beryl Is Now a Hurricane and Is Forecast to Intensify Quickly, the NHC Says
Most recent location of Storm Beryl approaching the Lesser Antilles. Photo: nhc.noaa.gov/
June 29, 2024 Hour: 1:07 pm
The second tropical storm of 2024 in the Atlantic basin, dubbed Beryl have quickly become the first Hurricane of the season and it is expected that intensifies its winds when it reaches the Windward Islands of the Caribbean Sea on Sunday night or Monday, announced Saturday the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC).
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The Florida-based NHC noted that Beryl could cause “destructive hurricane-force winds and potentially deadly storm surges,” which is why there is a hurricane alert in place for much of the Windward Islands, east of the Caribbean Sea basin.
The governments of the seven islands that make up the group: Martinique, Saint Lucia, Barbados, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago have issued a hurricane alert for their islands in the region and adds that “heavy rains and localized flooding are expected on the Windward Islands on Sunday night and Monday.”
“I have now been advised that we are more than likely going to be facing a storm, and possibly even a hurricane category one within the next 48 hours,” said on national broadcasting the Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley Amour.
“Like it or not, the truth is that we are living in a different time. They hear me talk about climate change and the climate crisis, and this is where the finger is on the nail, and the truth is that we will live more and more moments like this,” the PM said.
This is the second named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season and formally became a tropical storm on Friday.
This year, the Atlantic will have a hurricane season well above average, with the possibility of up to thirteen hurricanes, of which up to seven can be of major category, according to the National Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) american.
The forecast reflects that this year a total of 17 to 25 storms may form, that is, with maximum sustained winds above 62 kilometers per hour.
Autor: ACJ
Fuente: EFE // nhc.noaa.gov/
