Hurricane Beryl strengthens to Category 3 ahead of landfall on Mexican coast

July 2 (UPI) -- Hurricane Beryl strengthened to a Category 3 storm late Thursday as it took aim at Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, packing 115 mph winds and torrential rains as it headed for an early morning landfall.

Beryl was located 135 miles southeast of Tulum, Mexico, and was moving west at 26 mph as of 11 p.m. EDT, the National Hurricane Center said in an update.

An uptick in wind velocity as it approached the Mexican coast bumped Beryl up from Category 2 storm and deepened the threat to the tourism-related business and residences in the state of Quintana Roo.

At its current rate, it is expected to make landfall on the Yucatan during the early morning hours on Friday, then carve a path across the peninsula before emerging into the southwestern Gulf of Mexico Friday night.

Hurricane trackers say Beryl will then move northwestward toward northeastern Mexico and southern Texas late in the weekend.

The storm sideswiped the southern Jamaica coast as a Category 4 hurricane on Wednesday before being downgraded to a Category 2 hurricane late Thursday morning. But later in the day over the warm, open waters of the Caribbean, Beryl picked up steam again with winds topping 115 mph accompanied by a powerful storm surge that could raise floodwater levels to 5 feet.

The storm has already claimed at least 10 lives across the Caribbean, according the United Nations, which has released $4 million from its emergency response fund to kickstart relief efforts in Grenada, Jamaica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

A hurricane warning is in effect for the Yucatan Peninsula, including the Mexican resort towns of Cancun and Cozumel, which lay directly in the path of Beryl's fury. That has prompted owners of hotels, nightclubs, bars and restaurants in the tourism-dependent state of Quintana Roo to board up their doors and windows.

The Red Cross of Cancun and Playa del Carmen have been put on high alert to respond to Beryl's arrival, officials said, adding they expected the biggest impacts to be felt in the cities of Tulum and Felipe Carrillo Puerto,

A hurricane watch along the Yucatan Peninsula coast south of Puerto Costa Maya to Chetumal, as well as north of Cancun to Campeche.

A tropical storm watch is in effect for the coast of Belize from south of Chetumal to Belize City.

Powerful hurricane-force winds extend 30 miles from the eye of the storm with tropical storm-force winds extending up to 160 miles.

Additional weakening should occur while the center is over land, NHC said. "Over the Gulf of Mexico, the guidance does not forecast a lot of strengthening, but conditions appear generally favorable and the intensity forecast continues to show Beryl at hurricane strength before landfall on the western Gulf coast," NHC forecaster Jack Beven said.

Hurricane Beryl was the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record in the Atlantic. It has been blamed for six deaths and caused severe damage after slamming the Caribbean. Forecasters said water could rise to 12 feet on the islands.

Numerous Americans rode out Hurricane Beryl in Jamaica on Wednesday, including Emmy Award-winning actress Sheryl Lee Ralph. The actress, who plays Barbara Howard on Abbott Elementary, shared a brief video from Kingston on Wednesday, praying for everyone's safety.

Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the country is now assessing what the storm left behind, which appears to have caused damaged coastal infrastructure. He said the examination is still early because the potential of flooding and landslides remained high.

Holness said road damage and debris caused by the high winds and winds will take investigators some time to give a preliminary estimate of damage.

At least one death has been blamed on the storm in Jamaica when a woman died after a tree fell on her home.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's satellites captured the first four days of Beryl, as the storm grew from a "tropical cyclone in the western Atlantic Ocean to a Category 5 hurricane in the Caribbean Sea."

Since Monday, the hurricane has torn through the island of Cariacou in Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as Venezuela. Cariacou was "flattened" in half an hour, according to Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell.

Mitchell reported three people were killed in Cariacou on Monday, with another death reported in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Two people were killed in northern Venezuela, according to officials.

At least five other people are missing in Venezuela, according to Remigio Ceballos Ichaso, the Venezuelan minister of Interior Relations.

In addition to the deaths, Beryl's heavy rains and winds have caused landslides, leveled buildings and taken out power systems, as scientists have warned of a more active and extreme hurricane season this year.

Cruise lines in the Caribbean were rerouting their ships Tuesday night.

"The safety of our guests and crew is paramount," Carnival Cruise Line said in a statement, "and we are continuing to monitor forecasts and factor in guidance from the National Hurricane Center, U.S. Coast Guard and local port authorities to provide timely updates to our guests as more information becomes available."

Norwegian Cruise Line also changed stops.

President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that the United States is ready to provide assistance.

"People, impacted islands and communities are in our prayers, and we stand by to provide assistance to them," Biden said during an event on extreme weather.

"Ignoring climate change is deadly and dangerous and irresponsible," Biden added. "These climate-fueled extreme weather events don't just affect people's lives. They also cost money."