Tropical Storm Beryl chugged toward the southeast Caribbean on Saturday and could strengthen into the year’s first hurricane before reaching Barbados late Sunday.
A hurricane watch was issued for Barbados as the island’s meteorological service warned of flash flooding and power outages and said the storm’s center was forecast to pass some 26 miles (45 kilometers) south of the island.
Early Saturday, Beryl was located about 975 miles (1,570 kilometers) east-southeast of Barbados, with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (80 kph). It was moving west at 21 mph (33 kph).
“We need to be ready,” Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley said in a public address late Friday. “You and I know when these things happen,…
