Beryl is expected to pass south of Martinique on Monday, between the southernmost island of Grenada and the northernmost island of Saint Lucia, according to the latest bulletin from Météo France, which has triggered a yellow cyclone alert.
“The passage of Beryl off the coast of Martinique at the stage of a major hurricane should however generate a clear deterioration in weather conditions” from Monday, forecasters specified.
Average troughs of 2 to 5 meters are expected on the coast, heavy showers with a peak at midday and early afternoon and winds of up to 60 km/h on the southern part of the French island with gusts of up to 90 or even 100 km/h in exposed areas, the prefecture detailed.
“The services will put in place restrictions and monitoring of areas of the territory which are subject to flooding,” announced Maurice Ferné, the general director of services in Fort-de-France, on Saturday evening.
The municipality has also brought forward the first events of a cultural festival planned for this Sunday. “We are relying on the evolution of vigilance to trigger or not our crisis unit,” he added.
As of Friday afternoon, the prefect of Martinique put the departmental operational center on standby.
A new update is planned for Sunday.
Béryl reached category 3 on Sunday, synonymous with “very dangerous” with winds of more than 180 km/h above the Antilles, announced the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami (United States), which warned of “mortal” risks.
Global warming is making extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, more frequent and more devastating.
