Hurricane Beryl, which devastated the Windward Islands and killed at least one person, is now "even stronger" as it makes its way into Jamaica

At least one person was killed when Hurricane Beryl, a Category 4 hurricane that raged into the Windward Islands on Monday, brought deadly storm surges, devastating winds, and heavy rains.

Furthermore, with gusts just 2 mph shy of a Category 5 hurricane, the storm has become "even stronger as it moves quickly across the southeastern Caribbean," the National Hurricane Center said on Monday night.

As Beryl passes over the eastern Caribbean, the center predicted that its intensity will fluctuate over the course of the next day or two. Nevertheless, Beryl is still predicted to be a very hazardous major hurricane.

With maximum winds of 150 mph, Beryl touched down just after 11:00 a.m. EDT on Carriacou Island in the Caribbean Sea, near Grenada. NOAA data dating back to 1851 indicates that it is the fiercest storm ever recorded to have passed over the Grenadines.

Dickon Mitchell, the prime minister of Grenada, said at a press conference on Monday that there were "widespread reports of destruction and devastation in Carriacou and Petite Martinique." "Carriacou was leveled in 30 minutes.”

Although there were not yet any reports of fatalities or injuries in Grenada, Mitchell cautioned that this may change.

"You have to understand that we are still in danger because of the hurricane's ferocity and strength," he said.

Primate Ralph Gonsalves said on Monday night that there may be additional deaths in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, but at least one fatality has been documented and hundreds of houses and structures have been destroyed.

He noted that, at this hour, Hurricane Beryl "left in its wake immense destruction, pain, suffering, across our nation." According to estimates, 90% of the homes on Union Island, which is located just north of Grenada, have been badly damaged or destroyed, Gonsalves added.

The Windward Islands lost electricity as a result of the hurricane.

According to Neila K. Ettienne, the prime minister's office press secretary, Hurricane Beryl has caused power outages to about 95% of the island of Grenada, CNN reported on Monday. Ettienne clarified that there are problems with telecommunications across Grenada and that some people do not have internet access.

The secretary said that only hospitals and the national police force are now in operation, adding that all businesses and schools, including the airport, are closed. The National Hurricane Center reports that the airport recorded a wind speed of 121 mph with a sustained wind speed of 92 mph on Monday afternoon.

Following Beryl

The Atlantic hurricane season has begun unusually early with Beryl's arrival. It turned into the only Category 4 in June and the earliest Category 4 in Atlantic Ocean history on Sunday. Beryl's worrying intensification was made possible by unusually warm ocean temperatures, which is a glaring sign that this hurricane season will be quite different from usual owing to global warming brought on by fossil fuel pollution.

According to Jim Kossin, a hurricane specialist and scientific adviser at charity First Street Foundation, Beryl is shattering June records because the water is now as warm as it would ordinarily be during the height of hurricane season.

Kossin told CNN that hurricanes "don't know what month it is; they only know what their ambient environment is." "Beryl believes it's September, so she's breaking records for the month of June."

The ocean heat that is causing Beryl to intensify to an unprecedented degree "certainly have a human fingerprint on them," Kossin said.

As of right now, Beryl is a deadly storm. As of Monday evening, the storm had sustained winds of 155 mph, was situated 575 miles east-southeast of Isla Beata in the Dominican Republic, and was traveling at a speed of 21 mph toward the west-northwest. The hurricane-force winds produced by Beryl reach 40 miles from the center, while the tropical storm-force winds reach around 125 miles. The core of the storm is predicted to depart the southern Windward Islands on Monday night, travel through Tuesday over the southeastern and central Caribbean Sea, and pass close to Jamaica on Wednesday.

• Flooding and life-threatening storm surge: "Life-threatening storm surge will raise water levels by as much as 6 to 9 feet above normal tide levels in areas of onshore winds near where the eye makes landfall in the hurricane warning area," the National Hurricane Center issued a warning. Large waves from the storm will persist for the next several days across the Windward and southern Leeward Islands, according to the center. Additionally, waves are predicted to hit Puerto Rico's and Hispaniola's southern beaches late tonight or early Tuesday. It said that life-threatening surf and rip current conditions are predicted as a result of these waves.

• Hurricane conditions might develop by Wednesday, and there is a hurricane warning in force for Jamaica. There are tropical storm warnings in force for the south coasts of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, extending from Punta Palenque westward to the border with the former and Anse-d'Hainault to the border with the former.

• More than 400 people were being accommodated in storm shelters around Barbados on Sunday night, according to Ramona Archer-Bradshaw, the country's chief shelter warden, who spoke with CNN affiliate CBC News.

Grenada: General Cécile La Grenade, the governor of Grenada, issued a state of emergency on Sunday night. It will last until Tuesday morning. Apart from the police, hospitals, jails, garbage disposal, and ports, all companies are closed.

• Airports are still closed: As Hurricane Beryl neared on Sunday night, airports in Barbados, Grenada, and Saint Lucia remained closed. According to a spokeswoman, the Maurice Bishop International Airport in Grenada is anticipated to reopen on Tuesday morning. Hewanorra International and George Charles airports in St. Lucia, as well as Barbados' Grantley Adams International Airport, have also suspended operations.

• Cricket World Cup enthusiasts stuck: According to Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, there are still cricket fans in Barbados who came from all over the world to watch the T20 World Cup. Some of them aren't expected to depart until Monday or Tuesday. "A few of them have never experienced a hurricane or a storm previously," she said, pleading with locals to provide assistance to guests, if at all feasible.

Where Beryl is going next Landfall is still a long way off, and its future course is still up in the air.

Through Thursday, the storm is forecast to move mostly west or northwest over the Caribbean Sea. It is predicted to maintain its major hurricane status through midweek, with a Category 3 or higher intensity, before gradually weakening.

Despite this, the storm will still be very dangerous, with powerful gusts, heavy rain, and dangerous waters that stretch well beyond its core across the majority of the Caribbean. Even if Beryl's core doesn't make landfall in Jamaica on Wednesday, it may pass close to the southern coast and have more severe effects on the nation.

In places with onshore winds along Jamaica's immediate coast, "storm surge could raise water levels by as much as 2 to 4 feet above normal tide levels," the hurricane center said.

From Monday, when Beryl made impact for the first time in the Windward Islands, until Friday morning, when it is most expected to make landfall on or near Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, many days will probably pass.

If Beryl is able to make landfall again over the weekend, it will also depend on what occurs following her second landfall. Beryl may cause problems for northeastern Mexico or perhaps the US Gulf Coast if it manages to make it over land and into the Gulf of Mexico's bathtub-warm waters.

A historically early start to hurricane season

A second storm, Tropical Storm Chris, made landfall early on Monday off the Gulf Coast, close to Tuxpan, Mexico, indicating that this season is already off to a hectic start.

With her record-breaking activity, Beryl is bringing in a dangerous start to a hurricane season that analysts have predicted would be hyperactive. This might be a preview of things to come.

In 58 years, Beryl is the first big hurricane in the Atlantic to be classified as a Category 3 or higher storm. The National Hurricane Center Director, Mike Brennan, said that the storm's quick strengthening is quite unusual thus early in the hurricane season. Only a small number of tropical systems, especially powerful ones, have formed in the central Atlantic east of the Lesser Antilles in June, according to NOAA statistics.

Not only is the storm early for this season. It is now the third-earliest significant storm in the Atlantic Ocean. Hurricane Audrey, which attained major hurricane strength on June 27, 1957, was the second oldest, having made landfall on June 8, 1966 with Hurricane Alma.

In addition, Beryl broke the record established in 1933 for the easternmost hurricane to develop in the Tropical Atlantic in June.

Beryl would be the first Category 5 storm ever recorded and the second Atlantic hurricane to reach this level in July, having previously only been surpassed by Emily in 2005.

August is often a more active month in the middle and eastern Atlantic, partly due to the ocean's ability to warm and support emerging systems.

However, this year's El Niño-to-La Niña season shift has resulted in above-average ocean temperatures and less wind shear in the Atlantic basin, both of which are catalysts for tropical growth.

Brennan said, "Beryl has discovered a location with exceptionally warm ocean waters for this time of year."

Phil Klotzbach, a research scientist at Colorado State University and specialist on hurricanes, said that systems emerging this early in the summer in this section of the Atlantic is a hint of the hyperactive hurricane season to come. In June and July, the water is often too cold to support the growth of tropical systems.

This season, 17 to 25 named storms are expected, with up to 13 of them turning into hurricanes, according to National Weather Service forecasts.

That's much above normal, said Brennan.