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The Barbados Meteorological Service issued a power outage and flooding warning as the eye of the hurricane was expected to pass about 26 miles (45 kilometers) south of the island.
The storm is expected to bring up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain to Caribbean islands, including Barbados.
“The reality is we don’t know exactly what kind of weather we’re going to face, but we know we’re going to face some weather impacts,” Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley said Friday.
She is expected to make another statement Saturday evening.
Forecasters predict that this year’s hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, will be a hurricane-prone season.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has issued its most alarming warning of the season so far. Forecasters say as many as 25 named storms could appear in 2024.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said eight to 13 of the storms could become hurricanes.
Four to seven of those storms could strengthen into Category 3 hurricanes or worse, more than double the usual number.
If Hurricane Beryl continues on the track some forecasters predict and develops into a Category 3 storm, the second named storm of the 2024 season will be one of the earliest arriving storms that NOAA warns about.
“It is shocking that a major (Category 3+) hurricane is forecast anywhere in the Atlantic in June, let alone so far east in the tropics,” hurricane expert Michael Lowry said on social media.
“Before the first week of July, only five major hurricanes (Category 3 and above) had been recorded in the Atlantic. Beryl will be the sixth and earliest hurricane in the eastern tropical Atlantic.”
The 2023 hurricane season has a total of 19 named storms.
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