Hurricane Beryl knocks out power to nearly a million homes and businesses

MATAGORDA, Texas (AP) – Power outages are mounting along the Texas coast after Beryl came ashore Monday and pummeled Houston with heavy rain and strong winds as the storm moved inland.

More than 1 million homes and businesses were without power hours after Beryl made landfall, according to CenterPoint Energy in Houston. High water quickly began closing roads across Houston, and flood warnings were in effect along a wide stretch of the Texas coast.

The National Weather Service expected Beryl to weaken to a tropical storm on Monday and a tropical depression on Tuesday, predicting a turn to the northeast and increased speed Monday evening and Tuesday. The storm reached the US after leaving a trail of destruction over the past week in Mexico and the Caribbean.

The center of the storm made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane around 4 a.m. about 85 miles southwest of Houston with sustained winds of 80 mph (128.7 km/h) while moving north at 12 mph (19.3 km/h), the National Weather Service announced. On Monday morning, the storm had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km/h).

High water quickly began closing roads around Houston, which was again under flood warnings after heavy storms in recent months. washed neighborhoods and overthrew power in the country’s fourth largest city.

More than 1,000 flights have been canceled at Houston’s two airports, according to tracking data from FlightAware.

Beryl dumped heavy rain across Houston after coming ashore and was expected to bring damaging winds to East Texas, near Louisiana, as the storm pushed north after making landfall.

“Beryl is moving inland, but that’s not the end of the story,” said Jack Beven, senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center.

Beryl strengthened and became a hurricane again late Sunday. The storm had weakened after leaving a path of deadly destruction across parts of the Mexico AND Caribbean.

A hurricane warning remains in effect for the Texas coast from Mesquite Bay north to Port Bolivar, the center said.

The center of the storm is expected to move over East Texas on Monday and then through the lower Mississippi Valley into the Ohio Valley on Tuesday and Wednesday, the weather service said.

People on the Texas coast boarded windows and fled beach towns under an evacuation order. As the storm neared the coast on Sunday, Texas officials warned of power outages and flooding, but also expressed concern that not enough residents and beachgoers in Beryl’s path had heeded warnings to evacuate.

“One of the things that causes us a little bit of concern, we’ve seen all the roads that leave the coast and the maps are still green,” said Texas Gov. Dan Patrick, who is serving as the state’s governor. acting governor while Gov. Greg Abbott is traveling overseas. “So we don’t see a lot of people leaving.”

The tropical storm’s winds extended 115 miles (185 kilometers) from the center, and the hurricane center warned residents to prepare for possible flooding in parts of central, upper and eastern Texas as well as Arkansas as the storm gradually turns north and deeper. back to the northeast. later on Monday.

Along the Texas coast, many residents and business owners took typical storm precautions but also expressed uncertainty about the storm’s intensity.

In Port Lavaca, Jimmy May taped plywood over the windows of his utility company and said he wasn’t worried about the potential storm surge. He recalled that his business had escaped flooding in a previous hurricane that brought a 20-foot storm surge.

“In the city, you know, if you’re in the low-lying areas, obviously, you’ve got to get out of there,” he said.

At the nearby marina, Percy Roberts showed his neighbor Ken Waller how to properly secure his boat as strong winds rolled in from the bay Sunday evening.

“This is actually going to be the first hurricane I’m going to experience,” Waller said, noting he’s a little nervous but feels confident following Roberts’ lead. “Pray for the best, but expect the worst, I guess.”

The earliest storm that developed in a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic, Beryl caused at least 11 deaths as it passed through the Caribbean en route to Texas. The storm blew away doors, windows and roofs with damaging winds and gusts driven by record Atlantic warmth.

Three times during the week of its life, Beryl has gained 35 mph (56 km/h) in wind speed in 24 hours or less, the weather service’s official definition of rapid intensification.

Beryl’s explosive growth in an unprecedented early storm shows that hot water of the Atlantic and Caribbean and what the Atlantic hurricane belt can expect for the rest of the hurricane season, experts said.

Texas officials warned people along the entire coastline to prepare for possible flooding, heavy rain and wind. The hurricane warning extended from Baffin Bay, south of Corpus Christi, to Sargent, south of Houston.

Beryl looms as another possible heavy rain event for Houston, which has seen storms in recent months overthrew the government through the country’s fourth largest city and flooded neighborhoods. A flood watch was in effect for a wide area of ​​the Texas coast, where forecasters expected Beryl to dump up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain in some areas.

Possible storm surge between 4 and 7 feet (1.22 and 2.13 meters) above ground level was forecast around Matagorda. The warnings were extended to the same coastal areas where Hurricane Harvey came ashore in 2017 as a Category 4 hurricane, much stronger than Beryl’s expected intensity by the time the storm makes landfall.

Those looking to catch a flight out of the area found a closing window for air travel as Beryl approached. Hundreds of flights from Houston’s two main commercial airports were delayed by noon Sunday and dozens more were canceled, according to FlightAware data.

In Corpus Christi, officials urged visitors to cut their trips short and return home early if possible. Residents were advised to secure homes by boarding up windows if necessary and using sandbags to protect against possible flooding.

The White House said Sunday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had dispatched emergency responders, search and rescue teams, bottled water and other resources along the coast.

Some coastal counties called for voluntary evacuations in low-lying areas that are prone to flooding. Local officials also banned camping on the beach and asked tourists traveling over the Fourth of July holiday weekend to move recreational vehicles away from coastal parks.

Beryl hit Mexico as a Category 2 storm last week, downing trees but causing no injuries or deaths before weakening to a tropical storm as it moved across the Yucatan Peninsula.

Before hitting Mexico, Beryl wreaked havoc in Jamaica, Barbados and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Three people were reported dead in Grenada, three in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, three in Venezuela and two in Jamaica.

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Gonzalez reported from McAllen, Texas. Associated Press reporters Margery A. Beck in Omaha, Nebraska, Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and Julie Walker in New York contributed.