Bridgetown (Barbados) | Hurricane Beryl has strengthened to Category 5 status as it crosses islands in the southeastern Caribbean.

Beryl ripped off doors, windows and roofs in homes across the southeastern Caribbean on Monday after making landfall on the island of Carriacou in Grenada as the earliest Category 4 storm in the Atlantic, fuelled by its record warm waters.

Grenada's Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said late Monday that one person had died and authorities had not been able to assess the situation on the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique. There were initial reports of major damage but communications were largely down.

Late Monday, Beryl's winds increased to 160 mph (260 kph). Fluctuations in strength were likely in the coming days.

Beryl was about 510 miles (825 kilometres) east-southeast of Isla Beata in the Dominican Republic and was moving west-northwest at 22 mph (33 kph). It was forecast to pass near Jamaica on Wednesday.