Tropical storm Béryl, which was located some 1,400 km southeast of the Antilles on Saturday, is expected to strengthen to reach the strength of a hurricane before passing over its islands, Météo France warned.
As of Friday, the prefect of Martinique has put the departmental operational centre on the island, the French territory most threatened by the probable trajectory of the storm, on standby, his office announced.
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The situation is being closely monitored
Météo France predicts the phenomenon’s passage “in the Lesser Antilles, between Tobago for the southernmost island and the South of Martinique for the northernmost island” between next Monday and Tuesday.
Updates should be made on Saturday and then on Sunday, the prefecture indicated in a press release, adding that “measures could then be taken, depending on updated weather forecasts”.
Waves of five meters expected
Average winds around the center of Beryl reached 85 km/h, with gusts higher, indicated the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami (United States), which is the reference in the Atlantic basin. “Beryl is expected to become a hurricane this evening or Sunday”he anticipated in his bulletin published Saturday at 9 a.m. GMT (11 a.m. in Paris).
“It is already very likely that the sea state will be very rough from Sunday evening, and particularly during the day on Monday.”for their part anticipated the State services in Martinique.
Waves of five meters are expected in the Saint-Lucie channel, to the south of the French island.
An intense hurricane season
Béryl is the second tropical phenomenon named since the beginning of June in the Atlantic basin. The 2024 hurricane season is announced by Météo France as “one of the most intense years” in this matter.
In October 2023, the passage of Hurricane Tammy caused material damage in Guadeloupe, without causing any casualties.
