Hurricane Beryl hits Carriacou islands as Category 4 storm

Hurricane Beryl slammed the Carriacou Islands in the Caribbean Sea on Monday after regaining its Category 4 status. Beryl made landfall in the island at 11:10 a.m. eastern time as an "extremely dangerous" storm, National Hurricane Center stated, warning that it is the strongest known hurricane to pass through this region so far. The storm caused power outages, flooded streets and ushered in storm surge flooding for parts of the Grenadines, Grenada, Barbados and Tobago Monday, according to the Center. Life-threatening and catastrophic wind, waves and storm surges as well as heavy rain and flooding are expected in the area. The storm transformed from a tropical depression to a major Category 4 hurricane in just 48 hours over the weekend. Beryl is the earliest Category 4 on record for the Atlantic Basin, breaking the record Hurricane Dennis held from July 7, 2005. Beryl is also the first Category 4 ever recorded in the month of June. “Hurricanes don’t know what month it is, they only know what their ambient environment is,” Jim Kossin, a hurricane expert and science advisor at nonprofit First Street Foundation told CNN. Kossin added that “Beryl is breaking records for the month of June because Beryl thinks it’s September.”