Weather

Beryl kills 2 in Houston area and knocks out power to 2.6 million customers

By

Ayana Archie

,

Bill Chappell

Beryl, which is now a tropical storm, is forecast to move north, and then northeast, as it brings torrential rain to inland Texas and neighboring states.

Beryl is flooding communities and uprooting trees along the central Texas coastline, after making landfall as a hurricane in the darkness of early Monday morning. At least two deaths are reported.

Beryl has weakened into a tropical storm, the National Hurricane Center said at 11 a.m. ET, with maximum sustained winds near 70 mph. But emergency crews are still coping with the damage it brought.

"Street flooding, downed trees, power outages and water rescues. All of that is happening right now," the police department in Rosenberg, around 50 miles inland, tweeted as it urged people to stay off of the roads. "A downed tree even fell [on] one of our high water rescue vehicles coming back from a rescue."

A man died after a tree fell on his home in a northeast Houston suburb, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.

"The man (53) was reportedly sitting in house with family, riding out the storm, Gonzalez said via X. "An oak tree fell on roof and hit rafters, structure fell on the male. Wife and children unharmed."

And in the Spring area north-northwest of downtown Houston, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said that "a 74-year-old grandmother also passed away due to a tree falling on her bedroom."

Storm remains an imposing threat after landfall

Beryl made landfall near Matagorda, Texas, around 80 miles southwest of Houston, as a Category 1 hurricane around 4 a.m. local time, the National Hurricane Center said in an update.

Radar update 6:58am: Beryl continues moving north. Heavy rains have caused flash flooding in/around the Houston area. Rain continuing to fall will aggravate ongoing issues. Strong/gusty winds persist. Isolated weak tornadoes still possible. #txwx #houwx #glswx #bcswx pic.twitter.com/ORWkuxTHZF

Five hours later, the storm was still bringing gusts of more than 80 mph to inland areas, including Houston Hobby Airport. Beryl has been moving at 12 mph, and it's expected to keep moving north before veering a bit to the east.

"A turn toward the northeast with an increase in forward speed is expected tonight and Tuesday," the hurricane center said.

Hurricanes routinely inflict the worst conditions on areas east of their center. In Beryl's case, that puts people living in Houston and Galveston at particular risk.

From midnight to 6:30 a.m. local time, the local National Weather Service office estimated, 6 to 8 inches of rainfall fell in a large area southwest of the Houston metro area, bringing flash floods.

"Houston TranStar cameras detected street flooding across the city," as Houston Public Media reports.

In Liberty County, northeast of Houston, Beryl uprooted a landmark tree -- “a beloved pecan tree that had stood on the courthouse square for generations,” as local news outlet Bluebonnet News reported.

Beryl made landfall hours after regaining hurricane-strength winds of at least 80 mph late Sunday. While forecasters warned that winds could damage buildings and topple trees, the National Hurricane Center said that floodwaters would pose "a danger of life-threatening inundation."

A storm surge warning was in effect from Mesquite Bay to Sabine Pass, including Matagorda Bay and Galveston Bay, the center said.

More than 2.6 million electricity customers in Texas were without power as of midday Monday, according to Poweroutage.us.

A tree collapsed on a truck in Rosenberg, Texas, as Hurricane Beryl made landfall Monday along the Gulf Coast.

Hurricane regained strength after leaving Caribbean

Beryl is the earliest Atlantic storm in a calendar year to become a Category 5 hurricane. It left at least 11 people dead as it tore through the Caribbean last week.

Climate change is making hurricanes stronger and more intense, leading to higher wind speeds, heavier rainfall and more severe storm surges. Warmer ocean temperatures fuel more powerful storms and climate change is driving record-high temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean.

Beryl briefly weakened into a tropical storm after passing through Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. But as Beryl regained hurricane-strength winds, the NHC issued a litany of advisories for the area stretching from Galveston to Mesquite Bay to Corpus Christi. Storm surges could increase water levels from 3 to 7 feet in those regions. Rainfall is forecasted to range from 5 to 15 inches.

“As Hurricane Beryl approaches the Texas coast, now is the time for Texans to make their final preparations to protect themselves and their property,” Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Sunday. “121 counties are already under state disaster declaration, and more may be added if conditions warrant.”

Patrick said more than 2,500 responders have been dispatched across the state, from departments including FEMA, parks and wildlife, health services and transportation.

A house in Houston, Texas, is surrounded by floodwater on Monday. Tropical Storm Beryl developed into a Category 1 hurricane hours before hitting the Texas coast.

On Sunday, Director of the Texas Division of Emergency Management Nim Kidd echoed Patrick in pleading with the public to take it seriously.

"There will be inland flooding, and what we find is this freshwater inland flooding tends to be more of a killer of our citizens than the actual storm surge," Kidd said. "So please, please do not drive through water. Turn around. Don't drown."

From Texas, Beryl is expected to move inland across Arkansas on Tuesday.

The NHC said Beryl's center "will move over eastern Texas today, then move through the Lower Mississippi Valley into the Ohio Valley on Tuesday and Wednesday."

Luke Garrett contributed reporting.