Vacationing family from New Jersey stuck in Jamaica as Hurricane Beryl approaches

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica -- 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 a New Jersey family on vacation, who were hoping to make it off the island before the storm arrives.

The Simon family spent six glorious days in Montego Bay. For them, this trip was a long-awaited getaway and college graduation celebration.

"It's actually beautiful. It's beautiful," said Brett Savage-Simon from Bloomfield, New Jersey.

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 could before the storm makes landfall.

"It developed so quick, from a tropical impression, so fast," said Clive Davis, a local fisherman in Kingston. "It's the first time this developed in June, July. Got me taking this serious."

Unfortunately, the resort guests in Montego Bay and the Simon family, who were hoping to get out early, may 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.

Action News' sister station ABC7 New York spoke with the Simon family on Tuesday evening, and they say that their scheduled flight back to New Jersey has already been canceled.