Hurricane Beryl made landfall on the Texas coast early Monday as a Category 1 storm and unleashed severe weather as it moved inland, requiring water rescues, canceling hundreds of flights and leaving more than 1.5 million people without power.
Beryl, which strengthened from a tropical storm to a hurricane, had sustained sustained winds of more than 80 mph when it made landfall about 4:30 a.m. near Matagorda, a coastal city between Corpus Christi and Galveston, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Minutes after landfall, the National Weather Service in Houston issued a tornado warning for several counties, and tornadoes were possible from eastern Texas into northwestern Louisiana and southwestern Arkansas, according to the weather service’s Storm Prediction Center.
In Houston, the National Weather Service said 3 to 6 inches of rain caused flash flooding in parts of the city. The weather service said another 2 to 4 inches of rain was expected and urged drivers to avoid flooded roads. The weather service issued a flash flood watch for all of Southeast Texas as some areas received 2 to 4 inches of rain per hour.
Meanwhile, in Freeport, a city east of Matagorda, wind gusts of 94 mph were recorded, and the Houston Weather Service recorded wind gusts of 81 mph at higher elevations in the city, warning residents of high-rise apartment buildings to “stay away from balconies and windows.”
Beryl carved a devastating path across the Caribbean last week, killing at least 11 people and destroying or severely damaging infrastructure on several islands. After strengthening into one of the fastest Category 5 hurricanes on record, Beryl made landfall on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Friday morning before weakening to a tropical storm.
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The storm prompted closures and ship restrictions at several ports in cities from Houston to Corpus Christi. The ports of Corpus Christi, Houston, Galveston, Freeport and Texas City announced they were closed due to “Zulu” conditions set by a U.S. Coast Guard captain on Sunday.
Heavy rains and subsequent flooding across East Texas led to water rescues as people were trapped in their homes and cars.
Path of Hurricane Beryl
Hurricane Beryl was located 30 miles southwest of Houston, according to a warning issued by the National Hurricane Center at 8 a.m. local time.
The storm is hurtling north at 12 mph, with sustained winds slowing to 75 mph from 80 mph at landfall. Hurricane-force winds extend up to 45 miles from the center of Beryl, and tropical storm-force winds extend up to 115 mph, according to the Hurricane Center.
more:Tracking Hurricane Beryl: Storm makes landfall in Texas, checks spaghetti model and track
Hurricane Beryl is expected to weaken as it moves inland, first as a tropical storm and then as a tropical depression. Beryl is expected to continue north up the Mississippi Valley and then through the Ohio Valley before dissipating on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Beryl causes over 1,000 flight cancellations in Houston
More than 1,000 flights were canceled at Houston’s airports early Monday as Hurricane Beryl approached the city.
At George Bush Intercontinental Airport, about 1,000 incoming and outgoing flights were canceled, according to FlightAware. At Houston’s smaller William P. Hobby Airport, more than 225 flights were canceled, FlightAware said.
Houston is a major hub for United Airlines and has suffered the hardest operational damage from the storm so far: About 400 flights, or about 14% of United’s total flights, had been canceled by Monday.
Beryl cuts power to over 1.5 million residents in Texas
More than 1.5 million customers lost power in East Texas, according to power company CenterPoint Energy, though it was unclear how many of those were in Houston.
CenterPoint Energy said on its website that 3,410 outages disrupted service to 1.58 million customers.
More than 1.7 million homes and businesses across Texas lost power, according to outage tracking site PowerOutage.us.
Texas power outage map
Hurricane Beryl brings flooding, calls for urgent water rescue
Officials in several East Texas counties said emergency crews were actively working to rescue people trapped in cars and homes by floodwaters caused by Hurricane Beryl.
Heavy rain has left the Texas city of Houston and surrounding areas flooded, prompting Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez to urge motorists to “stay off the roads.”
The police department in Rosenberg, a city southwest of Houston, said they were conducting water rescues and warned residents of downed trees and ongoing flooding.
“Flooded roads, downed trees, power outages, water rescues. It’s all happening right now in Rosenberg. Please stay off the roads. Trees have even fallen on high water rescue vehicles on their way back from rescues,” the Rosenberg Police Department said on X.
In Fort Bend County, southwest of Houston, officials urged residents to “remain in their homes until the storm has passed” in a statement about X. “Roads are littered with trees and debris, some roads are flooded and most traffic lights are not working,” the county statement said, adding that deputies were responding to help “stranded/flooded motorists.”
Hurricane Beryl ‘will be a deadly storm,’ says Texas acting governor
The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning for much of the Texas coast on Sunday, warning that Beryl could pack hurricane-force winds and 5 to 10 inches of rain, with up to 15 inches expected in parts of the Gulf Coast and eastern Texas in central and north Texas.
Water levels along the coast began rising on Sunday, leading local authorities to urge residents to evacuate before landfall. Authorities also urged people to prepare for Beryl’s impacts by stockpiling supplies, filling up on gas and staying up to date on the latest news, as the storm is expected to bring heavy rain, flash flooding and tornadoes inland.
Texas Acting Governor Dan Patrick said Beryl “will be a deadly storm for those directly in its path” and issued a disaster declaration for 120 counties.
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Will Hurricane Beryl hit Houston?
Beryl is threatening to bring another wave of heavy rain to the largest city in Texas and the fourth-largest in the United States.
Meteorologist Eric Berger wrote on the Space City Weather blog that the greater Houston area, particularly the western half of the metropolitan area, would see “heavy rainfall as well as significant impacts from high winds.”
The weather service warned that rainfall totals could reach 15 inches in some areas, causing flash flooding.
The city has already been hit by severe storms in recent months that have downed trees in and around the area and caused power outages to hundreds of thousands of homes.
It’s hurricane season.See what storms have happened in your neighborhood in the past
Hurricane Beryl breaks records amid busy hurricane season
Beryl made landfall on the island of Carriacou, Grenada, on July 1 as a Category 4 hurricane and battered the southern Caribbean island, destroying hundreds of buildings.
Later that night, Beryl became the fastest Category 5 hurricane on record. Its rapid intensification surprised experts, due to record-warming ocean waters. Beryl was also the fastest Category 4 hurricane on record, and the first major June hurricane on record east of the Lesser Antilles.
Federal forecasters predict this year’s hurricane season will be different from normal, with as many as 25 named storms possible — the most ever predicted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in a preseason forecast.
Contributing authors: Jorge L. Ortiz, Daina Boyles Pulver, USA Today, Reuters
