HURRICANE BERYL SKIRTS JAMAICA AFTER FLATTENING CARIBBEAN ISLANDS

 HAVANA, July 4 (Bernama-dpa) -- Hurricane Beryl has brushed Jamaica after killing several people and razing entire islands to the ground in its destructive path through the Caribbean, reported German news agency (dpa).

The centre of the Category 4 storm was moving near Jamaica's southern coast on Wednesday, with maximum sustained winds of 215 kilometres per hour, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said.

Beryl was temporarily upgraded to a "potentially catastrophic" Category 5 - the highest level - late on Monday, but has since lost its intensity.

According to the island's meteorological service, Beryl was "about to begin moving away from Jamaica" on Wednesday evening toward the Cayman Islands while remaining "at or near major hurricane intensity".

The storm brought strong winds and heavy rain to Jamaica, an island of some 3 million people. There were initially no reports of fatalities or damage. Some roads were blocked by fallen trees or flooding, according to disaster management authority ODPEM.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness said almost 500 people had been accommodated in emergency shelters and declared an island-wide curfew between 6 am (1100 GMT) and 6 pm.

Beryl made landfall on Monday in the south-eastern Caribbean islands of Carriacou, with around 6,000 inhabitants, and Petite Martinique, with about 900. Both belong to Grenada.

According to Grenada's National Disaster Management Agency, 98 per cent of  buildings on the two islands were damaged or destroyed.

Numerous trees and power poles have been toppled, and there was no electricity, water, or mobile phone reception. The entire vegetation on Carriacou had also been destroyed, said Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell.

Also hit hard was Union Island, with around 5,000 residents, which belongs to the country of St Vincent and the Grenadines. According to the government, around 90 per cent of the infrastructure on the island was damaged.

Grenada has so far reported three deaths due to the storm, Venezuela three, and St Vincent and the Grenadines one.

Beryl is expected to reach the east coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, somewhat weakened, from Thursday evening, the NHC said.

Beryl is the first hurricane of the season, which started at the beginning of June.

According to experts, never before has a hurricane of this magnitude been recorded in the Atlantic this early in the year.

-- BERNAMA-dpa