No Filipino casualties reported yet due to Hurricane Beryl —embassy

NEW YORK — No Filipinos have so far been reported hurt or killed amid Category 5 Hurricane Beryl, which made landfall on Monday on the island of Grenada in South America, a Philippine embassy official said.

In a message to GMA Integrated News, Second Secretary and Consul Mark Lim of the Philippine Embassy in Washington, DC said they are closely monitoring the situation and are coordinating with the concerned local governments.

"The Embassy of the Philippines in Washington, DC is closely monitoring the situation following the landfall of Hurricane Beryl," Lim said. 

"As of 10:30 AM (US Eastern Time), no Filipino citizen has been reported injured or killed as a result of Hurricane Beryl."

A Category 5 hurricane under the five-step Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale brings winds of 252 kilometers an hour (157 miles per hour) or higher, capable of causing catastrophic damage including the destruction of homes and infrastructure.

According to the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Beryl is moving west-northwest at a speed of 20 miles per hour and is expected to make landfall again in Yucatán or Jamaica.

It is expected to gain strength again when crossing the Gulf of Mexico before making landfall in North Mexico or South Texas in the United States.

"It's the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Central American basin," World Meteorological Organization (WMO) spokesperson Clare Nullis told reporters in Geneva.

The Philippine Embassy in Washington DC advises Filipinos living in the path of Hurricane Beryl to take precautions.

An estimated 9,000 Filipinos are living in the Caribbean, according to the Philippine Embassy in Washington, DC data. —KBK, GMA Integrated News