Hurricane Beryl Has Left Nearly an Entire Island Homeless

After Hurricane Beryl finished tearing through Union Island, part of the nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, almost every building was left either completely destroyed or severely damaged, locals say. "Literally, almost the whole island is homeless," one tells the BBC. "There are hardly any buildings left standing." Another agrees: "Easily 90% [of the island] has been erased," he says. "Everything is lost." The prime minister later confirmed 90% of the houses on the island, which is three miles long and about a mile wide, were significantly damaged or entirely razed, CBS News reports.

The prime minister also said there an islandwide blackout on Bequia, and some communities are without water. Damage was also reported in Barbados and Carriacou. The hurricane's death toll currently sits at six: three in Grenada and Carriacou, one in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and two in northern Venezuela. Officials say the number could rise. Moving forward, "Beryl is still expected to be near major hurricane intensity as it moves into the central Caribbean and passes near Jamaica on Wednesday and the Cayman Islands on Thursday," the National Hurricane Center says. It is then expected to move into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Friday, the AP reports. (More Hurricane Beryl stories.)