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Global Affairs Canada is advising Canadians to avoid non-essential travel to Jamaica as a result of Hurricane Beryl.
The Category 4 storm is currently travelling westward toward the island nation and is expected to reach Jamaica’s southern coast sometime Wednesday evening.
Jamaican authorities have already begun evacuation orders ahead of forecasted heavy prolonged winds and floods.
As of Wednesday morning, windspeeds had been recorded in Jamaica above 150 kilometres per hour.
A map showing where the highest projected wind speeds from Hurricane Beryl are anticipated. Photo: National Hurricane Centre.
As Jamaica braces for the brunt of the storm’s impact and fallout Canada and many other countries have issued warnings advising their residents to forego any non-essential trips.
Based on current projections Beryl should pass the Jamaica sometime between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, before continuing towards the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. By then, meteorologists expect it will be downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane.
U.S. officials also continue to closely monitor the track of the storm as current projections have it making landfall between Texas and Louisiana early on Monday. Beryl is however expected to have lost a considerable amount of its strength by that time.
