Hurricane Beryl churns towards Mexico after hammering Jamaica

Deadly Hurricane Beryl powered towards Mexico late Wednesday, after battering Jamaica's southern coast with devastating winds and sea surge.

The Category 4 storm has left a trail of destruction in its path across the Caribbean, killing at least seven people as it has strengthened rapidly.

Beryl was pulling away from Jamaica late Wednesday and was expected to pass just south of the Cayman Islands overnight, before moving onward to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

The storm is the first since NHC records began to reach the Category 4 level in June and the earliest to reach Category 5 in July.

Mexican officials are scrambling to prepare, with Beryl expected to bring damaging winds, a dangerous storm surge and heavy rainfall over the Yucatan Peninsula and Belize.

"We will have intense rains and wind gusts" from Thursday, Civil Protection national coordinator Laura Velazquez said, announcing the deployment of hundreds of military personnel, marines and electricity workers in anticipation of damage.

The government has prepared 112 shelters with a capacity for around 20,000 people and suspended school in the state of Quintana Roo, where Beryl will likely hit.

In Jamaica, "life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides from heavy rainfall" were still expected overnight, the NHC said.

More than 400,000 people were without power, according to the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper, citing a public service company.

The devastating hurricane-force winds, life-threatening storm surge, and damaging waves that continue to damage Jamaica are expected in the Cayman Islands overnight, when Beryl passes by while at or near major hurricane intensity.

Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew...