By Will Wade and Brian Wingfield | Bloomberg
Hurricane Beryl made landfall on the Texas coast early Monday, bringing heavy rains and life-threatening storm surge after churning across the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
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The storm — a Category 1 hurricane with winds of about 80 miles per hour — struck near Matagorda, between Houston and Corpus Christi, according to the US National Hurricane Center. Flash flooding is expected, it said in a notice at 4 a.m. local time.
While Beryl is significantly weaker than it was last week, when it reached Category 5 status, it’s still dangerous. Officials urged residents to take caution, oil companies adjusted operations and emergency workers gathered resources as the storm bore down on Texas.
A hurricane warning was in effect for the coastal area from Mesquite Bay to Port Bolivar. The storm is expected to pass over eastern Texas on Monday, then through the Lower Mississippi Valley and Ohio Valley on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Coastal areas are likely to see “large and destructive waves,” with the storm surge reaching as high as seven feet in some areas, according to the NHC. Some locations could see as much as 15 inches of rainfall, it said.
More than 130,000 customers in Texas were without power early Monday, many of them in coastal areas, according to website poweroutage.us. Hundreds of flights in and out of Houston-area airports had canceled flights, according to FlightAware, which tracks air traffic.
“The bottom line is, it’s all hands on deck,” Houston Mayor John Whitmire said during a briefing Sunday. “This storm has been unpredictable since Day One.”
Beryl initially weakened as it passed across the Yucatan Peninsula on Friday. However, it regained strength from unusually warm waters as it moved across the Gulf of Mexico.
“It will be a deadly storm for people who are in its path,” Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said during a briefing Sunday.
He urged people to use caution if they must venture outside. Beryl caused devastation as it ripped through the Caribbean and Mexico, leaving nine people dead. “We don’t want No. 10 to be in Texas,” he said.
Storms are classified as hurricanes when their wind speeds reach 74 miles per hour.
A state of emergency has been declared in 121 counties in Texas. Exxon Mobil Corp. said Sunday it was adjusting some operations. Freeport LNG ramped down liquefaction operations with plans to resume once the storm safely passes, a company spokesperson said.
–With assistance from Dan Murtaugh and Ocean Hou.
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