Track Hurricane Beryl as it rages toward Mexico after ripping through Caribbean
Hurricane Beryl, which ripped through the Caribbean as a Category 4 to 5 storm over the past couple of days, is headed for Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula after carving a destructive path across the Cayman Islands, the National Hurricane Center said.
Beryl, which has weakened to a Category 2 storm, left at least 11 people dead after hitting St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Venezuela, Grenada and Jamaica, reported CNN. The death toll is expected to rise as communications are restored to the island nation.
More:Hurricane Beryl delivers strong winds, heavy rain to Cayman Islands: Live updates
Mass destruction was reported across many Caribbean islands. At least three Windward Islands reported more than 90% of the homes and buildings were either destroyed or severely damaged, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency reported Wednesday.
Beryl made its way through the Cayman Islands on Thursday morning and is expected to be a dangerous hurricane when it hits the Yucatan Peninsula overnight and into Friday, despite its weakening.
The storm became the earliest recorded Category 5 hurricane ever surpassing the previous record by more than two weeks. The record was previously held by Hurricane Emily which arrived on July 17, 2005.
Weather officials warned Beryl is expected to bring life-threatening surf and rip currents along the coast of Jamaica, Cuba and the Cayman Islands. The currents could spread to the Yucatan Peninsula and parts of Central America later Thursday and then to eastern Mexico and much of the U.S. Gulf Coast by late Friday.
Beachgoers are advised to exercise extreme caution, even if the sea appears peaceful.
Hurricane Beryl path tracker
This forecast track shows the most likely path of the center of the storm. It does not illustrate the full width of the storm or its impacts, and the center of the storm is likely to travel outside the cone up to 33% of the time.
Hurricane Beryl spaghetti models
Illustrations include an array of forecast tools and models, and not all are created equal. The hurricane center uses only the top four or five highest-performing models to help make its forecasts.
Atlantic storm tracker
Contributing: Anthony Robledo, Gabe Hauari, N'Dea Yance-Bragg, Susan Miller, John Bacon, Jorge L. Ortiz, Dinah Voyles Pulver & Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY; Cheryl McCloud, USA TODAY-Network Florida