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.
FOX Weather's Robert Ray reports from inside Hurricane Beryl
Hurricane Beryl lashed Jamaica on Wednesday with gusty winds and angry seas. FOX Weather's Robert Ray was on the west coast of the island.
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.
Workers save pieces of a tin fence that was blown apart as winds from Hurricane Beryl pass through the area on July 03, 2024, in Kingston, Jamaica. Category 4 storm Beryl has caused widespread damage in several island nations as it continues to cross the Caribbean. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
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BEFORE-AND-AFTER PICTURES SHOW DEVASTATION TO CARIBBEAN AFTER BERYL SLAMS ISLANDS
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.
Hurricane Beryl's roaring winds in Montego Bay, Jamaica
Video taken on July 3 from Montego Bay shows Hurricane Beryl's strong winds whipping the palm trees.
Video taken from Montego Bay showed winds picking up, and sirens could be heard in the distance.
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.
![KINGSTON, JAMAICA - JULY 03: Waves crash ashore as Hurricane Beryl passes through the area on July 03, 2024, in Kingston, Jamaica. Beryl has caused widespread damage in several island nations as it continues to cross the Caribbean. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)]()
Image 1 of 13KINGSTON, JAMAICA - JULY 03: Waves crash ashore as Hurricane Beryl passes through the area on July 03, 2024, in Kingston, Jamaica. Beryl has caused widespread damage in several island nations as it continues to cross the Caribbean. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) ( )
![KINGSTON, JAMAICA - JULY 03: Flood waters pour onto the street as Hurricane Beryl passes through the area on July 03, 2024, in Kingston, Jamaica. Beryl has caused widespread damage in several island nations as it continues to cross the Caribbean. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)]()
Image 2 of 13KINGSTON, JAMAICA - JULY 03: Flood waters pour onto the street as Hurricane Beryl passes through the area on July 03, 2024, in Kingston, Jamaica. Beryl has caused widespread damage in several island nations as it continues to cross the Caribbean. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) ( )
![KINGSTON, JAMAICA - JULY 03: An empty street as people remain indoors as wind and rain from Hurricane Beryl is felt on July 03, 2024, in Kingston, Jamaica. Beryl has caused widespread damage in several island nations as it continues to cross the Caribbean. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)]()
Image 3 of 13KINGSTON, JAMAICA - JULY 03: An empty street as people remain indoors as wind and rain from Hurricane Beryl is felt on July 03, 2024, in Kingston, Jamaica. Beryl has caused widespread damage in several island nations as it continues to cross the Caribbean. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) ( )
![KINGSTON, JAMAICA - JULY 03: Flood waters pour onto the street as Hurricane Beryl passes through the area on July 03, 2024, in Kingston, Jamaica. Beryl has caused widespread damage in several island nations as it continues to cross the Caribbean. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)]()
Image 4 of 13KINGSTON, JAMAICA - JULY 03: Flood waters pour onto the street as Hurricane Beryl passes through the area on July 03, 2024, in Kingston, Jamaica. Beryl has caused widespread damage in several island nations as it continues to cross the Caribbean. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) ( )
![FOX Weather's Robert Ray reports from inside Hurricane Beryl (1)]()
Image 5 of 13FOX Weather's Robert Ray reports from inside Hurricane Beryl in Jamaica ( )
![Workers save pieces of a tin fence that was blown apart as winds from Hurricane Beryl pass through the area on July 03, 2024, in Kingston, Jamaica. Category 4 storm Beryl has caused widespread damage in several island nations as it continues to cross the Caribbean.]()
Image 6 of 13Workers save pieces of a tin fence that was blown apart as winds from Hurricane Beryl pass through the area on July 03, 2024, in Kingston, Jamaica. Category 4 storm Beryl has caused widespread damage in several island nations as it continues to cross the Caribbean. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) ( )
![KINGSTON, JAMAICA - JULY 03: A person makes their way through the wind and rain from Hurricane Beryl on July 03, 2024, in Kingston, Jamaica. Beryl has caused widespread damage in several island nations as it continues to cross the Caribbean. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)]()
Image 7 of 13KINGSTON, JAMAICA - JULY 03: A person makes their way through the wind and rain from Hurricane Beryl on July 03, 2024, in Kingston, Jamaica. Beryl has caused widespread damage in several island nations as it continues to cross the Caribbean. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) ( )
![High waves crash along the beach in Kingston, Jamaica, before the arrival of Hurricane Beryl on July 3, 2024. Beryl churned towards Jamaica on July 3, with forecasters warning of potentially deadly winds and storm surge, after at least seven people were killed and widespread destruction was reported across the southeastern Caribbean. The powerful hurricane, which is rare so early in the Atlantic season, was expected to pass over Jamaica around midday as a "life-threatening" Category 4 storm, meteorologists said. (Photo by Ricardo Makyn / AFP) (Photo by RICARDO MAKYN/AFP via Getty Images)]()
Image 8 of 13High waves crash along the beach in Kingston, Jamaica, before the arrival of Hurricane Beryl on July 3, 2024. Beryl churned towards Jamaica on July 3, with forecasters warning of potentially deadly winds and storm surge, after at least seven people were killed and widespread destruction was reported across the southeastern Caribbean. The powerful hurricane, which is rare so early in the Atlantic season, was expected to pass over Jamaica around midday as a "life-threatening" Category 4 storm, meteorologists said. (Photo by Ricardo Makyn / AFP) (Photo by RICARDO MAKYN/AFP via Getty Images) ( )
![Storm clouds over the Caribbean Sea as Hurricane Beryl approaches Jamaica as seen from Negril.]()
Image 9 of 13Storm clouds over the Caribbean Sea as Hurricane Beryl approaches Jamaica as seen from Negril. (Robert Ray/FOX Weather)
![KINGSTON, JAMAICA - JULY 03: Surfers enjoy the waves before the arrival of Hurricane Beryl on July 03, 2024 in Kingston, Jamaica. Category 4 storm Beryl has caused widespread damage in several island nations as it continues to cross the Caribbean. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)]()
Image 10 of 13KINGSTON, JAMAICA - JULY 03: Surfers enjoy the waves before the arrival of Hurricane Beryl on July 03, 2024 in Kingston, Jamaica. Category 4 storm Beryl has caused widespread damage in several island nations as it continues to cross the Caribbean. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) ( )
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Image 11 of 13Storm clouds over the Caribbean Sea as Hurricane Beryl approaches Jamaica as seen from Negril. (Robert Ray/FOX Weather)
![Storm clouds over the Caribbean Sea as Hurricane Beryl approaches Jamaica as seen from Negril.]()
Image 12 of 13Storm clouds over the Caribbean Sea as Hurricane Beryl approaches Jamaica as seen from Negril. (Robert Ray/FOX Weather)
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Image 13 of 13Storm clouds over the Caribbean Sea as Hurricane Beryl approaches Jamaica as seen from Negril. (Robert Ray/FOX Weather)
After slamming Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, Hurricane Beryl is forecast to strike Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Thursday before tracking into the Gulf.