Vacationing family from New Jersey stuck in Jamaica as Hurricane Beryl approaches
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica (WABC) -- The death toll from Hurricane Beryl is rising, as the most powerful storm to ever hit the Atlantic in July lashes the Caribbean.
As the storm barrels toward Jamaica, people are on high alert, including some people from the Tri-State area on vacation, who were hoping to make it off the island before the storm arrives.
It's been six glorious days in Montego Bay for the Simon family from New Jersey. For them, it's a long-awaited get away and college graduation celebration.
"It's actually beautiful. It's beautiful," said Bloomfield, New Jersey resident Brett Savage-Simon.
But the tropical beauty captured in some of their pictures, will soon be replaced with storm force winds and torrential rain.
Beryl, the first hurricane of the season, has already left a deadly trail of devastation in several Caribbean islands including Grenada, Barbados and St. Lucia. Now it's roaring towards Jamaica.
"I am encouraging all Jamaicans to take the hurricane as a serious threat," said Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness. "It is, however, not a time for panic. It is a time for us to be very strategic and calculated in our approach."
In Kingston on Tuesday, Jamaican citizens took heed to the serious warning, locking down as much as they can before the storm makes landfall.
"It developed so quick, from a tropical impression, so fast," said Clive Davis, a local fisherman in Kingston, Jamaica. "It's the first time this developed in June, July. Got me taking this serious, serious."
As for the resort guests in Montego Bay, the Simon family, who was hoping to get out early, may already be out of luck.
"We hope to get out of here before it hits and we hope the other people are ok, but when you hear there's a Category 5, and it could be coming our way, but like I told you, there's no sign of it now. So, when it gets here, we'll be ready," said Savage-Simon.
Eyewitness News reporter Darla Miles spoke with the Simon family on Tuesday evening, and they say that their scheduled flight back to New Jersey has already been canceled.
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