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Hurricane Roars Through the Caribbean

Hurricane Beryl, a powerful storm that made landfall Monday as a Category 4, has been barreling through the Caribbean, killing at least four people, destroying houses and snapping trees in half.

The hurricane first hit Carriacou, a small island north of Grenada, on Monday morning where it flattened the island in just half an hour, while also causing extreme damage to neighboring Petite Martinique. Rescue crews departed Grenada on Tuesday morning to deliver supplies to both islands and assess the destruction.

Carriacou is known for its coral reefs and diving spots, while on Petite Martinique ismost people work fishing or building boats. The two islands have a combined population of roughly 6,000, according to government data.

Late Monday, Beryl strengthened to a Category 5 and was heading west toward Jamaica.

The storm was an anomaly in what has already been an unusually busy storm season, which extends until the end of November. When it developed into a Category 4 storm on Sunday, it was the third major hurricane ever in the Atlantic Ocean in June — and the first time a Category 4 materialized this early there in the season.

The storm continued to set records, becoming the first ever Atlantic storm to grow into a Category 5 strength this early in the season, according to Philip Klotzbach, a Colorado State University meteorologist who specializes in tropical cyclones.

The storm’s rapid strengthening was a direct result of above-average sea surface temperatures, as well as a harbinger of what might be coming this hurricane season. A hurricane that intensifies faster can be more dangerous because it gives people in areas projected to be affected less time to prepare and evacuate.

Credit…National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

A satellite image showing Hurricane Beryl hurtling toward Jamaica on Tuesday.

A boat beached on the shores of St. Vincent on Monday.CreditCredit…Associated Press

Credit…Thomas Leonce/Reuters

Damage in Soufrière, St. Lucia, on Monday.

Credit…Chandan Khanna/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

People getting a trailer to move a boat from the street near Saint James, Barbados.

Credit…Randy Brooks/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Damaged outdoor furniture in Christ Church, Barbados.

Streets in Bay Garden Oistins, Barbados, were covered with debris on Monday.CreditCredit…Associated Press

Credit…Ricardo Mazalan/Associated Press

Fishing vessels damaged after Hurricane Beryl passed through the Bridgetown Fisheries in Barbados.

Credit…Gilbert Bellamy/Reuters

Lines at a grocery store on Monday in Kingston, Jamaica.

Credit…Andrea De Silva/Reuters

Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on Monday.

Credit…Marco Bello/Reuters

The airport in Piarco, Trinidad and Tobago, on Monday where a flight board showed several cancellations and a leak in the roof closed off a portion of the floor.

Strong winds and waves crashing onto Dover Beach in Christ Church, Barbados.CreditCredit…Keshav Panthi, via Storyful

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