The Caribbean begins to shut down in preparation for Category 4 Hurricane Beryl

Residents in several eastern Caribbean islands are being warned to prepare themselves for a lot of rain and high winds as Hurricane Beryl, which grew into a Category 4 hurricane Sunday, moved toward the region.

Both Barbados and Saint Lucia announced a nationwide shutdown as of 8.30 p.m. while Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell urged his nationals to pray. Mitchell later announced that the island would be placed under a state of emergency as of 7 p.m.

The announcement came as the Caribbean Community regional bloc known as CARICOM canceled a gathering of leaders from its 15 members scheduled for Wednesday through Friday in Grenada. Beryl’s intensity raised concerns throughout the Windward Islands and elsewhere in the Caribbean as it became the first Category 4 storm on record in June in the Atlantic.

READ MORE: ‘Extremely dangerous’ Category 4 Hurricane Beryl heads for the Caribbean

A hurricane warning is in effect for Barbados, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada & Tobago. A tropical storm warning is in effect for Martinique. Dominca and Trinidad are under a tropical storm watch. Residents in Trinidad and Tobago were told that their preparations should be “rushed to completion.”

Ahead of Beryl, Trinidad and Tobago National Weather Center reported isolated thunderstorms north of Trinidad began moving onshore around 4 p.m. Conditions were forecast to deteriorate across the island of Tobago after 6 p.m. and across Trinidad around midnight.

The National Hurricane Center advises Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, the Lesser Antilles and the rest of the northwestern Caribbean to “closely monitor the progress of Beryl.”

Storm surges are expected to reach 6 to 9 feet. Parts of the Grenadines are forecast to get 10 inches of rain while Barbados and the Windward Islands are expected to get 3 to 6 inches of rain in each country.

The next full advisory on Beryl, which has 130 mph sustained winds as of the 2 p.m. advisory, will be at 5 p.m. Sunday.

Beryl’s effect on St. Lucia and CARICOM

“The country will remain closed and please remain indoors until the all clear is given,” Saint Lucia Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre said in a national address. ”Businesses and schools will remain closed on Monday and employers are expected to cooperate.”

Millennium Heights Medical Complex in Saint Lucia announced Sunday that all elective surgeries scheduled for Monday would be suspended. Also, to reduce patient load, the medical facility discharged all stable patients at the Owen King European Union Hospital, according to an advisory.

“Relatives and friends of these patients are requested to make the necessary arrangements for pick-up by noon today or, at the latest, before the shutdown time at 8 p.m. (Sunday),” the advisory said.

CARICOM, meanwhile, said no new date has been set yet for its now postponed meeting.

“The primary focus of the community is now on citizen safety and security,” CARICOM said. “Several member states, including host nation Grenada, are now engaged in emergency preparations and planning to address the aftermath of the hurricane.”

Grenada and southern Grenadines expecting heavy rainfall

As Beryl rapidly intensified, Gerard Tamar of Grenada’s Meteorological Office referred to the storm as “dangerous.” He warned the island could be affected by tropical storm force winds of up to 45 mph.

“Bear in mind, Grenada is only 20-something miles long,” he said. “So the eye of the system could be beyond the horizon and the whole of Grenada could be under that...radius of tropical storm force winds.”

“It is so crucial that the entire state of Grenada be prepared and take this information to heart,” he added, noting that the country could also see a lot of rainfall

“To our friends in Carriacou and Petite Martinique, they will be much closer to the action,” Tamar said about the southern Grenadines. “They are expected to experience the hurricane force strength winds.”

A state of emergency, announced for as of 7 p.m., is slated to last for seven days or until it is revoked, the government said.

Barbados out of the cone, not out of trouble

Late Saturday, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley addressed Barbadians on the passage of the hurricane. She called on her citizens “to remain absolutely vigilant and to take every precaution that is possible for ourselves, for our families and for our neighbors.”

While Hurricane Beryl is projected to move south of Barbados, Mottley said, “the truth is, it can, at any point, move north; it can, at any point, impact us more.”

To get her point across, Mottley named several hurricanes in recent memories that changed course and had a deadly impact on Caribbean nations.

“We know all of this can change because this is a small system that is only 95 miles wide,” she said. “Therefore any shift at all could significantly impact us.”

Beryl’s arrival in the Caribbean coincided with Barbados’ hosting of Cricket World Cup, which meant this may be the first storm for some visitors.

Mottley said the airport may close at about 8 p.m. Sunday. All non-essential businesses in Barbados also should close no later than 8:30 p.m. while no events should take place.

“The Met office has been very clear. Even though they don’t expect for these winds to come until 2 o’clock in the morning, it can come earlier “ she said.

“This is going to be a long week. It isn’t the one we expected but it is the one we have,” Mottley said.

The Barbados Meteorological Services said late Sunday it is closely monitoring a Tropical Storm wave about 1,710 miles east of the island-nation. A tropical depression is likely to form by the middle part of this week while it moves generally westward at 15 to 20 mph across the eastern and central tropical Atlantic, the National Hurricane Center said.

United Nations ready to respond

The United Nations World Food Program said it remains on standby to join regional and national response efforts with Beryl, which is expected to impact multiple countries in the eastern Caribbean.

WFP Caribbean Multi-Country Office said it has deployed personnel to Saint Lucia and Grenada, and have staff on the ground ready to respond in Barbados and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Across the Caribbean, WFP has logistics capabilities and equipment ready for immediate activation and can provide direct assistance to affected communities in the form of food or cash, depending on the specific needs and available resources, the U.N. agency said.

WFP teams in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba are also closely watching the development of Beryl and are on standby to respond should countries request assistance.

“We are all actively preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Beryl in the next 24 hours. Preparedness is key and every minute counts at this point in time. WFP is actively working to support regional and national disaster management agencies to ensure that the people impacted by this storm are able to meet their essential needs and get back on their feet as quickly as possible,” said Brian Bogart, WFP Caribbean Multi-Country Office Director designate.