The Indian cricket team, including Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya, is stuck in Barbados following Hurricane Beryl's landfall on the Caribbean islands. Their return home, after winning the T20 World Cup, faces a delay of at least one more day.
Hurricane Beryl, a dangerous and exceptionally strong storm, hit the Caribbean island of Carriacou on Monday, marking the earliest occurrence of such a powerful storm in the Atlantic. Fueled by record warm waters, it poses significant risks to the region.
According to forecasts, Barbados and nearby islands experienced life-threatening winds and storms on Monday. The country, home to nearly three lakh people, has been under lockdown since Sunday evening due to the severe weather conditions.
Carriacou is one of the islands of Grenada, where officials said winds increased up to 150 mph (240 mph), blowing off roofs and causing other damage.
Hurricane warnings were in effect for Barbados, Grenada, Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines as thousands of people hunkered down in homes and shelters. The last strong hurricane to hit the southeast Caribbean was Hurricane Ivan 20 years ago, which killed dozens of people in Grenada.
Officials in Barbados received more than a dozen reports of roof damage, fallen trees and downed electric posts across the island.
Forecasters issued warnings of a life-threatening storm surge reaching up to 9 feet (3 meters) in areas affected by Hurricane Beryl's landfall. Barbados and nearby islands could expect 3 to 6 inches (7.6 to 15 centimeters) of rainfall, with localized amounts potentially reaching up to 10 inches (25 centimeters), particularly impacting Grenada and the Grenadines.
The storm was expected to weaken slightly over the Caribbean Sea on a path that would take it just south of Jamaica and later toward Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula as a Category 1.
Authorities in several southeast Caribbean islands initiated controlled shutdowns of electricity and cautioned about potential water shortages in anticipation of the approaching storm. Urging residents to take shelter, they emphasized the risks of landslides and flash floods, prompting closures of schools, airports, and government offices as precautionary measures.
Beryl strengthened from a tropical depression to a major hurricane in just 42 hours — a feat accomplished only six other times in Atlantic hurricane history, and with Sept. 1 as the earliest date, according to hurricane expert Sam Lillo.
It also was the earliest Category 4 Atlantic hurricane on record, besting Hurricane Dennis, which became a Category 4 storm on July 8, 2005.
Beryl amassed its strength from record warm waters that are hotter now than they would be at the peak of hurricane season in September, he said.
Beryl also marked the farthest east that a hurricane has formed in the tropical Atlantic in June, breaking a record set in 1933, according to Philip Klotzbach, Colorado State University hurricane researcher.
(With agency inputs)
