Hurricane Beryl Strengthens to Category 5 Overnight

Now in Hurricane Beryl, the Category 5 storm has already caused devastation as it makes its way west towards Jamaican Island, popular with American tourists.

CBS 2’s, Derick Waller is here live in the studio with more on where the storm is headed. Derick.

Hey guys, good morning. As you can see behind me, we’ve got a live radar image right now that well-defined eye there. Hurricane Beryl, now a Category 5, the earliest that’s ever happened in the Atlantic. And if you were planning to spend your July 4th holiday in the Caribbean or Mexico, well, the timing could not be worse. Now this is some video showing the high winds lashing Bridgetown, Barbados Monday as Beryl passed through as a Category 4.

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And we have some more video actually from Grenada’s Carriacou Island, where Beryl packed catastrophic winds of 150 miles an hour and a life-threatening six to nine foot storm surge on Monday. Now, overnight, the National Weather Service says that monster storm has intensified with maximum sustained winds of 165 miles an hour. And of course, as John mentioned earlier, it could weaken as it heads toward Jamaica, but it’s still going to pack a powerful punch. It’s going to be a powerful storm with life-threatening wind and storm surge. And this morning we’re hearing from the owner of a resort in Jamaica about how they are preparing, as well as a tourist from Illinois, who frankly doesn’t seem all that worried about it.

Ride the wave. We’re here. There’s nothing we can really do. We’re just going to batten down and ride it out.

Most of our buildings are pretty strong and the power lines are pretty strong. I’m more worried about the flooding than the actual hurricane winds.

And it took Beryl only 42 hours to strengthen from a tropical depression to a major hurricane. A feat accomplished only six other times in Atlantic hurricane history. By the way, it’s also two months ahead of schedule. The storm could eventually hit Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, which includes Cancún, another vacation hotspot for Americans. In fact, major airlines, including American JetBlue and others, are actually waiving change fees for tourists traveling to and from some major vacation destinations this week. Like Belize, the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, and Saint Lucia. Mary.

Derick Waller. Derick, thank you. And be sure to stay with CBS 2 News as we track Hurricane Beryl’s path. Our first alert weather team will have continuing coverage on air online and on the free CBS News app.