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Beryl crossing Cayman islands, after battering Jamaica

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Mexico's Yucatan in path, Cancun braces for impact

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At least 10 dead in Caribbean islands, Venezuela

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Parts of St. Vincent and the Grenadines 'flattened'

By Zahra Burton

KINGSTON, July 4 (Reuters) - Hurricane Beryl churned

over the Cayman Islands on Thursday as it took aim at some of

Mexico's top tourist resorts, after belting Jamaica with winds

that uprooted trees and tore apart buildings.

Over the past few days, Beryl, now at Category 2 strength,

has left behind a deadly trail of destruction across several

smaller Caribbean islands.

At least 10 people are know dead as a result of the storm, a

number that could rise, especially in the eastern Caribbean as

communications are restored on islands devastated by extensive

flooding and powerful winds.

"We're happy to be alive, happy that the damage was not more

extensive," said Joseph Patterson, a bee keeper active in local

politics who lives in the southwestern Jamaican town of Bogue in

St Elizabeth parish. He described felled power lines, roads

blocked with debris and "tremendous damage" to local farms.

Around 1,000 people hunkered down in shelters on Wednesday

evening, Richard Thompson, acting head of Jamaica's disaster

agency told local media. So far, only one death has been

attributed to Beryl, he said.

More than half of the customers of the island nation's main

electricity company were without power on Thursday afternoon.

Beryl's center skirted Jamaica's southern coast, pummeling

communities as a powerful Category 4 storm on the five-step

Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale before weakening slightly

later in the day.

Its winds are expected to slow further over next day or two,

but will likely remain at hurricane strength until it approaches

Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

By Thursday afternoon, Beryl had crossed over the Cayman

Islands. The unusually fierce, early hurricane was located about

135 miles (217 kilometers) west of Grand Cayman, the largest of

the three islands that make up the British territory, according

to the latest advisory from the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

It was on a path to strike the popular Mexican beach resort

of Tulum, on the Yucatan peninsula's eastern coast, later on

Thursday night or early Friday morning.

Beryl's maximum sustained winds had dipped to 110 mph (177

kph), and was dumping 4-6 inches (10-15 centimeters) of rain on

the Cayman Islands, where life-threatening surf and rip currents

were possible, the NHC said. A similar amount of rainfall is

expected over Mexico's Yucatan.

TOURISTS BEWARE

Mexico's top tourist destination Cancun is a short distance

from Tulum, both located where Beryl is forecast to cross.

Earlier on Thursday, Cancun's international airport was

thronged with tourists hoping to catch last flights out before

the full fury of the hurricane hits. Around 100 flights have

been canceled, according to a post on X from the state governor.

Workers could be seen filling up sand bags and boarding up

shop and hotel doors and windows.

Mexico's defense ministry opened around 120 storm shelters

in the area, ahead of expected flooding that will likely hamper

transportation.

The country's major oil platforms, most of which are

clustered around the southern Gulf of Mexico's shallow waters,

are not expected to be shut down or otherwise affected.

Offshore oil projects to the north, in U.S. territorial

waters, could be hit, according to the hurricane's expected

trajectory.

Chevron Corp ( CVX ) said on Thursday that non-essential

personnel from its Gulf of Mexico facilities, including workers

at its Anchor platform, are being removed due to the approaching

storm.

Beryl is the 2024 Atlantic season's first hurricane and at

its peak earlier this week was the earliest Category 5 storm on

record.

Jamaica's two main airports remained shut on Thursday, but

Kingston's Norman Manley International Airport is scheduled to

reopen early on Friday. A curfew was extended through Thursday

by the government.

Earlier in the week, Beryl slammed into St. Vincent and the

Grenadines and "flattened" Union Island, Prime Minister Ralph

Gonsalves told local radio. More than 90% of buildings suffered

extensive damages. Reconstruction in the area will require "a

Herculean effort," Gonsalves added.

There were at least three confirmed fatalities on the

islands chain and crop damage was widespread, senior officials

told Reuters.

In Grenada, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell had described

"Armageddon-like" conditions following the hurricane's passage,

while also confirming three deaths.

In Venezuela, at least three people had died and another

four were listed as missing.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

has forecast a large number of major hurricanes in what it has

predicted will be an "extraordinary" storm season this year. The

season runs from the start of June to the end of November

Beryl's destructive power, coming so early in the hurricane

season, underscores the consequences of a warmer Atlantic Ocean.

Scientists say human-caused climate change is likely causing the

creeping temperatures, which in turn fuel extreme weather.