State Department issues ‘evacuate’ warning for nine vacation hotspots amid hurricane threat

The Foreign Office has issued a stark warning to Britons planning holidays to nine popular destinations, warning that ignoring the advice could have life-threatening consequences. The new guidance comes in response to a hurricane warning that will impact the Caribbean today, with possible evacuations on the horizon.

The updated travel advice, posted on the Foreign Office website, applies to those considering travel to St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, Barbados, Dominica, St Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda.

Officials said: “Weather projections are forecasting a major hurricane to hit the region possibly as early as Sunday, June 30 and into the following week. You should watch and monitor local and international weather updates from the US National Hurricane Center and follow the advice of local authorities. , including any evacuation order See Extreme weather and natural disasters.”

They added: “Hurricane season runs from June to November. You should follow and monitor local and international weather updates from the US National Hurricane Center and follow the advice of local authorities, including any evacuation orders.”

The latest update puts forecasters on high alert as Tropical Storm Beryl is expected to become a major hurricane with the potential to become deadly before hitting Barbados. An anticipated landfall is slated for late Sunday or early Monday, with the storm currently moving toward the southeastern Caribbean beginning Saturday, the Express reports.

A major storm is classified by winds reaching at least 111 mph (178 kph), which corresponds to Category 3 or higher.

Beryl could mark the second significant event of this year’s hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30 in the Atlantic. Sabu Best, who heads the island’s weather department, predicts the center of Beryl will pass about 26 miles (45 kilometers) south of Barbados.

As of Saturday, Beryl had gusts of up to 65 mph (100 km/h) and was located about 785 miles (1,260 km) southeast of Barbados, moving west at 37 km/h (23 mph).

Hurricane watches have been declared for Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines. In addition, Martinique, Dominica and Tobago are under a tropical storm watch.

Michael Lowry, a hurricane specialist based in Florida, expressed his amazement about X: “It’s amazing to see a forecast for a major (Category 3+) hurricane in June anywhere in the Atlantic, even more so in the east deeply tropical. # Beryl is hastily organizing over the warmest waters on record for late June.”

On Saturday, Beryl was located about 720 miles east-southeast of Barbados, with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph and moving west at 22 mph. “Rapid strengthening is now forecast,” the National Hurricane Center in Miami warned.

Beryl’s strength is boosted by warm waters, with ocean heat content in the deep Atlantic currently at the highest level on record for this time of year, noted Brian McNoldy, a tropical meteorology researcher at the University of Miami.

Beryl set a new record for the strongest June tropical storm in the eastern tropical Atlantic, according to Philip Klotzbach, a hurricane researcher at Colorado State University.

“We have to be prepared,” urged Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley during a public address on Friday. “You and I know that when these things happen, it’s better to plan for the worst and pray for the best.”