According to the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Beryl remained a dangerous Category 4 hurricane as it approached Jamaica on Wednesday.

At 8 a.m., the center of Beryl was located about 125 miles southeast of Kingston, Jamaica and 430 miles east-southeast of Grand Cayman with sustained winds of 145 mph while moving rapidly west-northwest at 20 mph. Hurricane-force winds reaching 45 miles and tropical storm-force winds reaching 185 miles.

A hurricane warning remains in effect for Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, while a hurricane warning is in effect for the south coast of Haiti and the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. A tropical storm warning is in effect for the south coast of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, and a tropical storm warning is in effect for the coast of Belize.

“On the forecast track, the center of Beryl will move quickly across the central Caribbean and is expected to pass near or over Jamaica later today,” NHC meteorologists said. “The center is expected to pass near or over the Cayman Islands tonight or early Thursday and move across the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico early Friday.”

For #TimelapseTuesdayThe #GeoColor pictures of @NOAA'S #GOESEast Satellite shows the first 4 days of #Berylas the storm developed from a tropical cyclone in the western Atlantic to a Category 5 hurricane in the Caribbean Sea.

More to #HurricaneBeryl:… pic.twitter.com/sWSLLUUKNe

— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) July 2, 2024

In Kingston, people boarded up their windows, fishermen pulled their boats out of the water before sitting down at a table to play dominoes next to a cove, and workers dismantled roadside billboards to protect them from the expected whipping winds. Officials warned residents in flood-prone areas to prepare to evacuate.

“I encourage all Jamaicans to view the hurricane as a serious threat,” Prime Minister Andrew Holness said in a public address on Tuesday. “However, this is not the time to panic.”

The storm struck the Leeward Islands on Monday, reaching the island of Carriacou in Grenada as a Category 4 hurricane. Late Monday and Tuesday, however, it strengthened to a Category 5 with sustained winds of up to 265 km/h before weakening somewhat overnight.

According to hurricane specialist Philip Klotzbach of Colorado State University, Beryl was the first Category 5 hurricane in recorded history.

“One reason Hurricane Beryl intensified into a Category 5 hurricane over two weeks earlier than any other Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic is the extremely high heat content of the ocean,” he posted on X. “The heat content of the Caribbean Ocean today is typically what we have in mid-September.”

Beryl was the only hurricane in the Eastern Caribbean with wind speeds of 265 km/h or more, along with hurricanes Inez (1966), David (1979), Allen (1980), Dean (2007), Felix (2007), Matthew (2016), Irma (2017) and Maria (2017).

“Some weakening is expected over the next day or two. However, Beryl is expected to attain or be close to major hurricane strength as it passes Jamaica later today and the Cayman Islands tonight or early Thursday,” forecasters said. “Further weakening is expected after that, although Beryl is expected to remain a hurricane in the northwestern Caribbean.”

Here are the key messages for #Hurricane #Beryl for 5a EDT Wed – The full warning is pic.twitter.com/cGVE5BaXEt

— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) July 3, 2024

Storm surge could be 6 to 9 feet in Jamaica, 2 to 4 feet in the Cayman Islands, and 1 to 3 feet on the south coast of Hispaniola. 3 to 5 feet is expected on the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula.

Beryl is also forecast to receive rainfall amounts between 4 and 8 inches, with Jamaica receiving up to 12 inches in some areas today. Parts of Haiti are expected to receive another 4 to 6 inches, the Cayman Islands will receive 2 to 4 inches through Thursday, with up to 6 inches in some areas, and the Yucatan Peninsula will receive 2 to 6 inches through Friday, with up to 8 inches in some areas.

As Beryl sped through the Caribbean Sea, rescue teams from the southeastern islands were deployed to assess the extent of the damage the hurricane had caused on Carriacou, an island in Grenada.

Three people were reportedly killed in Grenada and Carriacou, and another in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, authorities said. Two more deaths were reported in northern Venezuela, where five people are missing, authorities said. About 25,000 people in that region were also affected by the heavy rains from Beryl.

There was one death in Grenada when a tree fell on a house, Environment Minister Kerryne James told the Associated Press. She said Carriacou and Petit Martinique were the hardest hit, with dozens of homes and businesses flattened in Carriacou.

Grenada's Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said on Tuesday there was no electricity, roads were impassable and the possible rise in the death toll “remains a grim reality”.

The Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, has vowed to rebuild the archipelago, noting that 90% of the houses on Union Island have been destroyed and that “a similar level of destruction” is expected on the islands of Myreau and Canouan.

The last strong hurricane to hit the southeastern Caribbean was Hurricane Ivan 20 years ago, which killed dozens of people in Grenada.

Grenada, known as the “Spice Island,” is one of the world's largest exporters of nutmeg. Mitchell pointed out that the majority of the spice is grown in the northern part of the island, which was most affected by beryl.

The NHC is also monitoring a tropical wave with disorganized rain and thunderstorm activity several hundred miles east of the Leeward Islands.

“Development of this system, if any, is likely to be slow as it moves westward across the western tropical Atlantic and Caribbean at 20 to 25 miles per hour. Regardless of development, gusty winds and locally heavy rainfall are possible across parts of the Lesser Antilles today,” the forecasters said.

The NHC gives a 10% chance of formation in the next two days and 20% in the next seven days.

The next name for the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, is Debby.

The first named storm of the season, Tropical Storm Alberto, formed on June 19 after a slow start to the season. However, the peak of the hurricane season lasts from mid-August to October.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting an above-average year for the Atlantic, with 17 to 25 named storms. Eight to 13 of these are expected to become hurricanes, and four to seven of these will be major hurricanes.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.