Hurricane Beryl grows to Category 5 strength as it razes southeast Caribbean islands

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP) — Hurricane Beryl strengthened to Category 5 status late Monday after it ripped doors, windows and roofs off homes across the southeastern Caribbean with devastating winds and storm surge fueled by the Atlantic's record warmth.

Beryl made landfall on the island of Carriacou in Grenada as the earliest Category 4 storm in the Atlantic, then late in the day the National Hurricane Center in Miami said its winds had increased to Category 5 strength. Fluctuations in strength, and later a significant weakening, were forecast as the storm pushes further into the Caribbean in the coming days.

Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said one person had died and he could not yet say if there were other fatalities because authorities had not been able to assess the situation on the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique, where there were initial reports of major damage but communications were largely down.

“We do hope there aren’t any other fatalities or any injuries,” he said. “But bear in mind the challenge we have in Carriacou and Petite Martinique.” Mitchel added that the government will send people first thing Tuesday morning to evaluate the situation on the islands.

Streets from St. Lucia island south to Grenada were strewn with shoes, trees, downed power lines and other debris. Banana trees were snapped in half and cows lay dead in green pastures with homes made of tin and plywood tilting precariously nearby.

“Right now, I’m real heartbroken,” said Vichelle Clark King as she surveyed her damaged shop in the Barbadian capital of Bridgetown that was filled with sand and water.

Beryl was still swiping the southeast Caribbean early Tuesday on a track heading just south of Jamaica and toward Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula by late Thursday as a Category 1 storm.

It reached Category 5 strength late Monday and intensified further early Tuesday morning to 165 mph (270 kph) winds.

Beryl was about 445 miles (715 kilometers) east-southeast of Isla Beata in the Dominican Republic and was moving west-northwest at 22 mph (35 kph). A hurricane warning was in effect for Jamaica, and a tropical storm warning for the southern coast of Hispaniola, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Fluctuations were likely but Beryl was expected to stay near major hurricane intensity as it moved into the central Caribbean and passed near Jamaica on Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center said. After that, significant weakening was expected.

The last strong hurricane to hit the southeast Caribbean was Hurricane Ivan 20 years ago, which killed dozens of people in Grenada.

On Monday afternoon, officials received “reports of devastation” from Carriacou and surrounding islands, said Terence Walters, Grenada’s national disaster coordinator. itchell said he would travel to Carriacou as soon as it’s safe, noting there’s been an “extensive” storm surge.

Grenada officials had to evacuate patients to a lower floor after hospital roof was damaged, he said.

“There is the likelihood of even greater damage,” he told reporters. “We have no choice but to continue to pray.”

In Barbados, Wilfred Abrahams, minister of home affairs and information, said drones — which are faster than crews fanning across the island — would assess damage once Beryl passed.

Jaswinderpal Parmar of Fresno, California, who was among the thousands who traveled to Barbados for Saturday’s Twenty20 World Cup cricket final, said he and his family were now stuck there with scores of other fans, their flights canceled on Sunday.

He said by phone that it’s the first time he has experienced a hurricane — he and his family have been praying, as well as taking calls from concerned friends and family as far away as India.

“We couldn’t sleep last night,” Parmar said.

Beryl strengthened from a tropical depression to a major hurricane in just 42 hours, which only six other Atlantic hurricanes have done, with Sept. 1 as the previous earliest date, according to hurricane expert Sam Lillo.

It also was the earliest Category 4 Atlantic hurricane, besting Hurricane Dennis, which became a Category 4 storm on July 8, 2005. Beryl later became the earliest Category 5 observed in the Atlantic basin on record, and only the second Category 5 hurricane in July after Hurricane Emily in 2005. the National Hurricane Center said.

Beryl amassed its strength from record warm waters that are hotter now than they would be at the peak of hurricane season in September, said hurricane specialist and storm surge expert Michael Lowry.

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.

Beryl is the second named storm in the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. Earlier this month, Tropical Storm Alberto made landfall in northeast Mexico and killed four people.

Short-lived Tropical Storm Chris had formed Sunday night near eastern Mexico before weakening back to a depression Monday. A cluster of thunderstorms mimicking Beryl's path in the western Atlantic was less organized late Monday but had a small chance of becoming a named storm in the next few days.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted the 2024 hurricane season was likely to be well above average, with between 17 and 25 named storms. The forecast called for as many as 13 hurricanes and four major hurricanes.

An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 14 named storms, seven of them hurricanes and three major hurricanes.

Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Associated Press videographer Lucanus Ollivierre in Kingstown, St. Vincent contributed to this report.

This National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite image taken at 10:50pm EDT shows hurricane Beryl, center, as it moves across the Caribbean on Monday, July 1, 2024. Hurricane Beryl has strengthened to Category 5 status as it crossed islands in the southeastern Caribbean. (NOAA via AP)

A fisherman pushes a boat damaged by Hurricane Beryl at the Bridgetown Fisheries in Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

A fisherman jumps from a vessel damaged by Hurricane Beryl at the Bridgetown Fisheries in Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Fishermen look out at vessels damaged by Hurricane Beryl at the Bridgetown Fisheries in Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Houses damaged by Hurricane Beryl in Kingstown, Srt. Vincent and the Grenadines, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Lucanus Ollivierre)

A fisherman looks at fishing vessels damaged by Hurricane Beryl at the Bridgetown Fisheries in Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

A fisherman looks out at vessels damaged by Hurricane Beryl at the Bridgetown Fisheries in Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Fisherman Hamilton Cosmos looks at vessels damaged by Hurricane Beryl at the Bridgetown Fisheries in Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Sylvia Small, right, waits for police approval to enter the pier to check her boat's damages due to Hurricane Beryl at the Bridgetown Fisheries in Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Fishing vessels lie damaged after Hurricane Beryl passed through the Bridgetown Fisheries in Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

A tree lies on the roof of a house in Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, after Hurricane Beryl on Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Lucanus Ollivierre)

Fishing vessels damaged by Hurricane Beryl sit upended at the Bridgetown Fisheries in Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Fishermen pull a boat damaged by Hurricane Beryl back to the dock at the Bridgetown Fisheries in Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

A fisherman looks at fishing vessels damaged by Hurricane Beryl at the Bridgetown Fisheries in Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

A tree slumps after being uprooted by Hurricane Beryl in Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Lucanus Ollivierre)

Hurricane Beryl's winds batter Carlisle Bay in Bridgetown, Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Waves batter a pier during the pass of Hurricane Beryl in Bridgetown, Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Day breaks over a pier as Hurricane Beryl passes through Bridgetown, Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Waves batter palm trees as Hurricane Beryl passes through Hastings, Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Rick Burn takes photos of damages caused by Hurricane Beryl in Hastings, Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Youths take photos as Hurricane Beryl passes through Bridgetown, Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Members of the Barbados Defence Force clean up a street after Hurricane Beryl passed through Oistins, Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

A Barbados Defence Force member cleans up a street after Hurricane Beryl passed through Oistins, Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

A bird flies away from a palm tree after Hurricane Beryl passed through Oistins, Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Hurricane Beryl floods a street in Hastings, Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Boats lie capsized in a flooded street after Hurricane Beryl passed through St. Lawrence, Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

The sea floods the street after Hurricane Beryl passed through St. Lawrence, Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

A man takes photos after Hurricane Beryl passed through Oistins, Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Wind blows past a house whose roof blew away during Hurricane Beryl in Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Lucanus Ollivierre)

Donna Charles, a hotel cook, watches as Hurricane Beryl passes through Bridgetown, Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

A surfer braves the waves in Carlisle Bay as Hurricane Beryl passes through Bridgetown, Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Waves batter a pier as Hurricane Beryl passes through Bridgetown, Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

A resident carries wood to cover his house's windows in preparation for Hurricane Beryl, in Bridgetown, Barbados, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

People disassemble a beach bar's awning in preparation for Hurricane Beryl, in Bridgetown, Barbados, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

People walk off the beach after attending a religious gathering in Bridgetown, Barbados, Sunday, June 30, 2024. Hurricane Beryl strengthened into a Category 4 storm as it approaches the southeast Caribbean. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Sailboats line up to enter a marina ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Beryl in Speightstown, Barbados, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Hurricane Beryl's winds batter Carlisle Bay in Bridgetown, Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Hurricane Beryl's winds batter Carlisle Bay in Bridgetown, Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisia's increasingly authoritarian leader has scheduled the next presidential election for October without saying whether he will seek a second term after five tumultuous years at the head of the North African nation once seen as a model of democracy for the Arab world.

President Kais Saied set Oct. 6 for the election in a decree issued late Tuesday, according to a statement from the presidency. Saied's first term ends on Oct. 23.

The election will be voters’ first chance to evaluate Saied’s tenure amid an economic crisis and the drift into authoritarianism.

Saied ran in 2019 on a populist, anti-corruption platform that energized Tunisians disillusioned with party politics and economic stagnation following the Arab Spring pro-democracy protests that in 2011 toppled the country's longtime dictator.

However, Saied reversed some of Tunisia’s democratic gains, rewriting the constitution to consolidate his power and jailing critics, including from the largest political parties. Analysts expect he will run for a second, five-year term given that the new constitution grants him full powers.

He also dissolved the parliament two years ago after lawmakers of the Ennahda opposition Islamist party held a virtual session seeking to annul his actions in 2021 to assume sweeping powers.

Saied argued at the time that the country was facing “imminent peril” because of protests and economic vows. He has governed the country by decree ever since.

More than 40 of Saied's critics and political opponents have been jailed in the past year on various charges of conspiring against the country's security, including the leader of Ennahda, the largest opposition party.

Earlier this year, its leader, Rached Ghannouchi, was sentenced to three years in prison on allegations that his party relied on foreign financing to bankroll its political campaigns in 2019. The sentence was added to Ghannouchi's 15-month prison term that a different court handed down last year after he was found guilty of supporting terrorism and inciting hatred.

Tunisia’s main opposition coalition has said it won’t take part in the presidential election unless Saied’s political opponents are freed and judicial independence is restored. The National Salvation Front, a coalition of the main opposition parties that includes Ennahdha, has expressed concern that the election wouldn’t be fair

Several other political leaders have announced their candidacy, including the leader of the right-wing Free Destourian Party, Abir Moussi, who is in custody on suspicion of disturbing public order. Lotfi Mraïhi of the Republican Popular Union party, who unsuccessfully ran for the presidency in 2019, is also running, although authorities have issued a warrant against for alleged money laundering.

Surk contributed from Nice, France.

FILE - A woman holds up a banner during a protest against Tunisian President Kais Saied in Tunis, Tunisia, Sunday, May 15, 2022. Tunisia presidency says the North African country will hold its next presidential elections on Oct. 6. (AP Photo/Hassene Dridi, File)

FILE - President of the Islamist party Ennahda and candidate for the Parliamentary election Rached Ghannouchi votes in a polling station south of Tunis, Tunisia, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2019. Tunisia presidency says the North African country will hold its next presidential elections on Oct. 6, 2024. The main opposition coalition that includes the once-powerful Ennahdha Islamic party, said it won’t take part in the vote unless Saied’s political opponents are freed and judicial independence is restored.(AP Photo/Hassene Dridi, File)

FILE - Supporters of Tunisian President Kais Saied stage a demonstration on Avenue Habib Bourguiba in support of the president's measures and against foreign interference, in the capital Tunis, Sunday, May 19, 2024. Tunisia presidency says the North African country will hold its next presidential elections on Oct. 6. Its increasingly authoritarian President Kais Saied has yet to announce if he will seek a second term after five tumultuous years of leading Tunisia, once seen as a model of democracy for the Arab world. (AP Photo/Anis Mili, File)

FILE - Tunisian President Kais Saied attends a signing ceremony with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Friday, May 31, 2024. Tunisia presidency says the North African country will hold its next presidential elections on Oct. 6. Its increasingly authoritarian President Kais Saied has yet to announce if he will seek a second term after five tumultuous years of leading Tunisia, once seen as a model of democracy for the Arab world. (Tingshu Wang/Pool Photo via AP, File)