Hurricane Beryl becomes unwelcome guest to couples anniversary celebration in storms path

ST.GEORGE’S, Grenada – Mississippi residents Victor and Terri Cochran know about the dangers of hurricanes, but they never expected to ride out a category 4 storm while hundreds of miles from home when Hurricane Beryl became the third wheel on their anniversary trip.The couple, owners of the travel agency Family Fun Travels, thought vacationing in the Caribbean early in hurricane season would be safe.“The reason we booked Grenada was to be below the latitude of where the hurricanes normally come this time of year,” Victor Cochran told FOX Weather.

“We’re very hurricane aware, and we try to plan our trips around that.And we’ve had this plan for some time, but we did not expect this.”During other hurricane seasons, the Cochrans’ assumption would be right, but Hurricane Beryl made history over the weekend, becoming the strongest hurricane on record for June.Beryl also formed farther east than any other June hurricane since record-keeping began.On Tuesday, the storm made history again, becoming the earliest Category 5 storm on record hours after pummeling the Windward Islands. The Grenada airport closed on Sunday night ahead of Beryl’s biggest impacts.While they waited and rode out the storm, Terri and Victor posted updates to social media on the conditions and shared views from their balcony.Terri’s Facebook album, “24th anniversary-Sandals Grenada(Hurricane Beryl),” included beautiful island views, champagne glasses and beach umbrellas before it became clear the storm was headed for their vacation destination.Beginning Friday, Terri started posting updates on Facebook documenting their struggles trying to leave the island while Victor posted to TikTok.When they couldn’t leave, they shared the weather conditions as the winds started picking up.Their social media posts are getting thousands of views, even from other resort guests. A neighboring room sent them some flowers and a thank-you note for their updates, helping to keep other fami...