Watch: Hurricane Beryl rocks Jamaica with powerful winds, dangerous surf

Power outages started in Jamaica before Hurricane Beryl's closest approach. By the late afternoon tropical-force winds up to 70 mph were beginning.

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Hurricane Beryl brushed by Jamaica on Wednesday afternoon, unleashing 140-mph winds and sending storm surge onto the island's shores.

Berl maintained Category 4 strength on Wednesday as it thrashed through the Caribbean Sea, leaving devastation on the Windward Islands to the southeast, where it first made landfall.

Ahead of Beryl's arrival, Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared the island a disaster area, which will remain in effect for at least the next week.

FOX Weather Correspondent Robert Ray said outer rain bands began moving over Negril, on the western side of the island, early in the afternoon. Ray said power outages were popping up even before Beryl's eyewall brushed against the island. 

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According to Jamaica Public Service, outages were most concentrated around Kingston.

After 3 p.m., tropical storm-force gusts were being felt on the island's western side, with gusts near 70 mph in Kingston. According to the NHC, mountainous areas on the island could see the most destructive wind gusts.

Video taken from Montego Bay showed winds picking up, and sirens could be heard in the distance. 

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Beryl produced massive waves along the coast in Kingston as Beryl moved miles off the Jamaican coast. Storm surge sent water rushing into Kingston as Beryl passed the island. 

After slamming Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, Hurricane Beryl is forecast to strike Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Thursday before tracking into the Gulf. 

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