Mitchell said he has already given instructions for residents of Carriacou and Petite Martinique to be given temporary housing. Additionally, they are working on identifying stocks of tarps and other supplies on the two islands to assist those affected by the hurricane. Mitchell said Union Island, which is dependent on St. Vincent and the Grenadines, has also suffered damages.

On the island of Grenada, there were reports of a central police station on Carenage and a hospital also receiving damage. Mitchell said he plans to visit the islands as soon as it is safe to do so, but he has been warned “there was devastation all around.”

In anticipation of Beryl’s arrival, Jamaican authorities announced Monday that more than 800 shelters across the country stand ready while earlier warning systems have been put up in some areas and relief supplies have already been secured.

“I want to give the country the assurance that the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management is in a position to respond, and to respond positively to any outcome that faces us over the next couple of hours,” said Desmond McKenzie, the minister in charge of local government and community development.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the unusual storm system with its historic strength and presence this early in the hurricane season “is a signal of the climate change issues that we are always very cognizant of.”

What’s next?

Once it clears the Windward Islands, Beryl’s future is a little less clear. The latest hurricane center forecast track keeps the storm on a straight shot to the Yucatan, where it could make landfall near Belize as a Category 1 hurricane or tropical storm on Friday morning.

On the way, it could pass dangerously close to Jamaica on Wednesday, enough to lash the island with high winds and storm surge.

The hurricane center said it was unclear what Beryl’s next move could be once it crossed the Yucatan. It could slow down to a crawl and dissipate over land, or re-emerge in the hot Gulf of Mexico and potentially find a new target for landfall.

“The official prediction still shows Beryl emerging into the southwestern Gulf of Mexico as a tropical storm at day 5, but the track uncertainty is greater with more ensemble spread during this period,” forecasters wrote in the 5 p.m. discussion.

On the other side of the Yucatan, short-lived Tropical Storm Chris fizzled out early Monday, dumping some rain over Mexico and crossing another name off the list.

The next contender could be right behind Beryl, a disturbance the hurricane center has tagged with a 50% chance of strengthening into a tropical depression within the next seven days, and a 20% chance of forming in the next two, as of the 2 p.m. update.

Those figures are a solid downgrade from Sunday evening’s figures, a sign that the cooler water left in Beryl’s wake and increased wind shear nearby could slow down the development of anything behind it.

“Environmental conditions appear marginally conducive for additional development of this system, and a tropical depression could form by the middle part of this week while it moves generally westward at 15 to 20 mph across the central and western tropical Atlantic,” forecasters wrote.

The next name on the list is Debby.

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(Miami Herald staff writers Vinod Sreeharsha and David Goodhue contributed to this report.)

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