Tropical Storm Beryl swirls toward southeast Caribbean and threatens to strengthen into hurricane

Tropical Storm Beryl is chugging toward the southeast Caribbean and could strengthen into the year’s first hurricane before reaching Barbados late Sunday. A hurricane watch was issued for Barbados as the island’s meteorological service warned of flash flooding and power outages and said the storm’s center was forecast to pass some 26 miles south of the island. Early Saturday, Beryl was located about 975 miles east-southeast of Barbados, with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph. It was moving west at 21 mph. Thousands of people are in Barbados for the Twenty20 World Cup cricket final, with India and South Africa playing in the capital, Bridgetown, on Saturday.