Hurricane Beryl reaches category 5 over the eastern Caribbean

HAVANA, Cuba, Jul 2 (ACN) Hurricane Beryl continues moving rapidly over the southern eastern Caribbean Sea, where atmospheric conditions have allowed it to gain more organization and intensity, reported the Forecasting Center of the Cuban Institute of Meteorology.

Its maximum sustained winds have risen to 270 kilometers per hour, with higher gusts and its minimum central pressure has dropped to 935 hectoPascal, it said in its most recent cyclone warning six, sent to the Cuban News Agency.

It pointed out that this makes it an intense category five hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

Beryl's central region was estimated at 6:00 a.m. this morning at 14.7 degrees north latitude and 67.2 degrees west longitude, a position that places it approximately 500 kilometers southeast of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and 1080 kilometers east-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica.

This storm continues moving with a course near west-northwest, increasing its speed of translation to 35 kilometers per hour.

Over the next 12 to 24 hours, it will continue on a similar course and speed, and should begin to gradually weaken today, although it will remain a major hurricane over the central Caribbean Sea as it approaches Jamaica on Wednesday.

Cuba keeps a close watch on this tropical cyclonic event, due to its evolution and future trajectory over the western Caribbean Sea.