Ralph Gonsalves, the prime minister of St. Vincent, urged Vincentians to brace for the expected arrival of Hurricane Beryl on Monday. Gonsalves stated in a national address on Saturday that the models indicate that hurricane conditions are likely to impact SVG by mid-morning on Monday, July 1st.
Beryl is now expected to rapidly intensify this weekend. The latest forecast from the National Hurricane Centre, shown below, expects Beryl to become the season’s first hurricane and a Category 3 or stronger hurricane over record warm late-June water before it moves over the Windward Islands late Sunday night or Monday with flooding rain, storm surge, and damaging winds.
Gonsalves advised families to assemble their emergency supplies, which should include water, food, medication, and other essentials, and urged supermarkets and gas stations to open late Saturday and Sunday to allow people to get the necessary emergency supplies.
Gonsalves called for the postponement of events scheduled for Sunday evening and urged residents to begin storm preparations immediately.
“Do not have any of these activities Sunday afternoon into Sunday night, because you’re not going to be able to take down the tents and move everything, including the containers. I must ensure everyone’s safety, including those who will attend these places. If you decide to proceed, I assure you that the police will intervene. If you have your containers there already, make arrangements between today and tomorrow morning. Please move them to somewhere safe.”.
Gonsalves said all bars in Kingstown will be closed by 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 30. However, Junior Panorama will go ahead as scheduled.
All emergency shelters on the island will activate by 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 30, encouraging people to bring water, medication, food supplies, and other basic supplies. Gonsalves stated that the NEOC will fully activate by 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 30.
Gonsalves said BRAGSA will dispatch heavy machinery to the Grenadines to assist with clean-up and other essential services, and he encouraged private contractors to assist in this process.
According to Gonsalves, except for essential services, work and normal business are highly unlikely to take place on Monday.
At 11 a.m., the centre of Tropical Storm (TS) Beryl was located near latitude 10.0° north and longitude 47.8° west, or approximately 930 miles (1497 kilometres) east of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. TS Beryl is moving towards the west at 23 mph (37 km/h) with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (105 km/h) with higher gusts. Minimum central pressure is 998 mb, or 29.47 inches.
