Hurricane Beryl intensified to a Category 5 storm with sustained winds of 160 mph after making landfall on Grenada’s Carriacou Island. The storm is forecast to pass near Jamaica, prompting the country to upgrade to a hurricane warning. Jamaica’s Prime Minister urged citizens to seek higher ground and warned that emergency services may not be able to operate during the peak of the storm. One person was reported dead in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, with widespread damage reported in Grenada. The southern coast of the Dominican Republic and Haiti were under tropical storm warnings. Beryl is the first Category 4 hurricane in June and the earliest in the Atlantic hurricane season on record. The storm is likely to move westward across the Caribbean Sea, with Jamaica facing the greatest threat of hurricane conditions. The storm is expected to weaken as it approaches the Yucatán Peninsula but is forecasted to remain a major hurricane until then. Storm surges, heavy rainfall, and flash flooding are expected in the region. In Barbados, businesses closed early as the storm passed, causing damage to properties. Beryl is likely to cause further damage in the Caribbean before weakening to a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico.
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