Hurricane Beryl is strengthening to a Category 4 storm as it approaches the southeastern Caribbean

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hurricane Beryl strengthened into what experts called an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm as it approached the southeastern Caribbean, beginning to close Sunday amid urgent pleas from government officials to people to take shelter.

Hurricane warnings were in effect for Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The center of Beryl is expected to pass about 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of Barbados on Monday morning, said Sabu Best, director of the Barbados Meteorological Service.

“This is a very serious situation developing for the Windward Islands,” warned the National Hurricane Center in Miami, which said Beryl was “expected to produce life-threatening winds and storm surges.”

Beryl was located approximately 500 kilometers east-southeast of Barbados. It had maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 km per hour) and was moving westward at a speed of 21 mph (33 km per hour). It is a compact storm, with hurricane force that extends up to 30 kilometers from the center.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for Martinique and a tropical storm warning for Dominica and Trinidad.

Beryl is expected to pass just south of Barbados early Monday and then enter the Caribbean Sea as a major hurricane on its way to Jamaica. The storm is expected to weaken by mid-week but will still remain a hurricane as it heads toward Mexico.

Beryl had grown into a Category 3 hurricane by Sunday morning, becoming the first major hurricane east of the Lesser Antilles recorded in June, according to Philip Klotzbach, a hurricane researcher at Colorado State University.

It took Beryl just 42 hours to recover from a tropical depression to a major hurricane — a feat accomplished only six times before in the history of Atlantic hurricanes, and with September 1 as the earliest date, according to hurricane expert Sam Lillo.

Beryl is now the first-ever Category 4 Atlantic hurricane, surpassing Hurricane Dennis, which became a Category 4 storm on July 8, 2005, according to hurricane specialist and storm surge expert Michael Lowry.

“Beryl is an extremely dangerous and rare hurricane for this time of year in this area,” he said in a telephone interview. “Unusual is an understatement. Beryl is already a historic hurricane and has not yet struck.”

Hurricane Ivan was the last strongest hurricane to hit the southeastern Caribbean in 2004, causing catastrophic damage in Grenada as a Category 3 storm.

“So this is a serious threat, a very serious threat,” Lowry said of Beryl.

Reecia Marshall, who lives in Grenada, worked the Sunday shift at a local hotel, preparing guests and encouraging them to stay away from windows while stocking enough food and water for everyone.

She said she was a child when Hurricane Ivan hit, and she is not afraid of Beryl.

“I know it’s part of nature. I’m okay with it,” she said. “We just have to live with it.”

Forecasters warned of a life-threatening storm surge of up to 3 meters in areas where Beryl will make landfall, with up to 15 centimeters of rain expected for Barbados and nearby islands.

Warm waters fueled Beryl, with the ocean heat content in the deep Atlantic Ocean being the highest ever recorded for this time of year, said Brian McNoldy, a tropical meteorology researcher at the University of Miami. Lowry said the waters are warmer now than at the height of the hurricane season in September.

Beryl marks the farthest east a hurricane has formed in the tropical Atlantic Ocean in June, breaking a record set in 1933, Klotzbach said.

“Please take this very seriously and prepare,” said Ralph Gonsalves, the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. “This is a terrible hurricane.”

Long lines formed at gas stations and supermarkets in Barbados and other islands as people rushed to prepare for a storm that quickly intensified.

Thousands of people were in Barbados for that Saturday World Twenty20 finalthe biggest cricket event, with Prime Minister Mia Mottley noting that not all fans were able to leave on Sunday despite many rushing to change their flights.

“Some of them have never been through a storm before,” she said. “We have plans to take care of them.”

Mottley said all businesses had to close on Sunday evening and warned the airport would close overnight.

Across Barbados, people prepared for the storm, including Peter Corbin, 71, who helped his son install plywood to protect the glass doors of his home. He said by phone he was concerned about Beryl’s impact on the islands just east of Barbados.

“That’s like a butcher cutting up a pig,” he said. ‘They have to make a bunker somewhere. It will be tough.”

In St. Lucia, Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre announced a national lockdown for Sunday evening and said schools and businesses would remain closed on Monday.

“Preserving and protecting lives is a priority,” he said.

Caribbean leaders were preparing not only for Beryl, but also for a cluster of thunderstorms that followed the hurricane and have a 70% chance of becoming a tropical depression.

“Don’t let your guard down,” Mottley said.

Beryl is the second named storm in what is expected to be an above-average hurricane season, running from June 1 to November 30 in the Atlantic Ocean. Earlier this month, Tropical Storm Alberto made landfall in northeastern Mexico with heavy rainfall that resulted in four deaths.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts that the 2024 hurricane season will likely be well above average, with between 17 and 25 named storms. The forecast calls for no fewer than thirteen hurricanes and four major hurricanes.

An average Atlantic hurricane season produces fourteen named storms, seven of which are hurricanes and three major hurricanes.