Millions of Texans woke up without power on Tuesday as heat and humidity blanketed much of southeast Texas in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, and heat warnings were issued as the deadly storm moved further inland, bringing heavy rain and possible tornadoes to the central United States.
Beryl, the fastest Category 5 hurricane on record, made landfall on the Texas coast as a Category 1 hurricane early Monday before weakening to a tropical storm, turning roads into rivers, trapping people in their cars and causing power outages to more than 2 million homes and businesses. The storm has been blamed for at least eight deaths in Texas and Louisiana.
Tropical Storm Beryl is expected to weaken as it moves inland but will likely remain strong enough to dump several inches of rain on several states and produce tornadoes as it moves into the Northeast, the National Hurricane Center said. More than 21 million people were under flood watches from Arkansas to Maine on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick warned that although Beryl had moved out of the state, dangerous flooding could continue for several days.
The deadly storm struck Jamaica, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines last week. At least 11 people were killed in Mexico and the Caribbean before Beryl reached Texas.
View the outage map:Beryl knocks out power to millions and heads for Mississippi
Developmental status:
In Harris County, which includes Houston, the Sheriff’s Office High Water Rescue Team continued responding to incidents across the city on Tuesday.
Oil and gas companies in Texas that had suspended operations in preparation for Beryl’s arrival resumed operations on Tuesday, despite some damage to their facilities and power outages in some areas.
Houston city officials on Tuesday urged residents to “avoid nonessential travel” to keep roads clear for authorities working to remove debris and restore power.
More than 2,500 emergency personnel were deployed across the state to help with recovery efforts, according to Texas Emergency Management Agency Director Nim Kidd.
▪ Patrick said Tuesday that President Joe Biden had granted his request for a federal emergency disaster declaration, which would help cover recovery costs. Biden also told Houston Mayor John Whitmire that his administration would “make sure Texans have the resources they need to weather this storm now and recover in the years to come.”
Beryl power outage brings dangerous heat to East Texas
More than 2.1 million homes and businesses are without power as Hurricane Beryl brings another form of dangerous weather – high temperatures and humidity – to parts of Texas.
“These values could become dangerous in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl.” Houston Weather Service Office “Please exercise caution during recovery efforts,” he said Tuesday.
Extreme heat is the deadliest form of extreme weather. A relentless heatwave has scorched the West Coast this week, sending temperatures into triple digits and leaving at least five people suspected to have died. The National Weather Service says the West Coast is expected to experience record-breaking heat in the coming days, with some areas reaching temperatures 30 degrees above average.
Beryl’s Trail from Arkansas to Maine
Beryl is expected to produce thunderstorms capable of producing tornadoes across the lowland Plains and Northeast, and cause flooding across large swaths of the central and eastern United States.
The storm is expected to move through Arkansas and into the lower Ohio Valley by Tuesday evening, bringing the risk of tornadoes. The heaviest rains will pass through Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana along Beryl’s path through late Tuesday, where up to 8 inches of rain is expected, according to the National Weather Service, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bill Deger said.
“Because the storm is fast-moving, this rain could fall in a matter of hours, causing reduced visibility for motorists and possibly flash flooding on highways and in areas with poor drainage,” he said.
The storm is forecast to bring “severe downpours” and a threat of tornadoes to the lower Great Lakes and the Northeast, including parts of upstate New York, northern Pennsylvania and southern Maine, on Wednesday. Heavy rain is expected to develop along the Mid-Atlantic coast and spread into New England by midweek, according to AccuWeather.
Remaining moisture across the Northeast will continue to churn storms Thursday into Friday and possibly Saturday after Beryl dissipates, AccuWeather said, adding that parts of the east could get up to 1.5 metres of rain.
more:As the heat wave continues, bringing record high temperatures from Portland to Phoenix, is there an end in sight?
Power crews work to restore service after Beryl
State and local officials in Texas warned that it could take days to restore power after Beryl knocked out power to millions of homes and businesses.
Nearly 1.7 million customers were without power in the Houston area as of early Tuesday afternoon. CenterPoint Energy reported that more than 850,000 power outages had been restored in the past 24 hours. More than 2.1 million homes and businesses in Texas were without power, and about 20,000 were without power in Louisiana and Arkansas, according to PowerOutage.us.
CenterPoint Energy said in a statement that it expects to restore power to 1 million customers by Wednesday evening. The company, which serves Houston and the surrounding area, said it had about 12,000 crews on the ground responding to the outbreak.
More than 2.2 million CenterPoint Energy customers were without power at its peak on Monday. Power had been restored to 285,000 customers by 8 p.m., the company said in a statement.
“We had been closely tracking the projected path, strength and timing of Hurricane Beryl for days, but this storm demonstrated just how unpredictable hurricanes can be as they delivered powerful shock waves across our service territory and impacted so many lives,” said Lynne Wilson, senior vice president at CenterPoint Energy.
Death toll rises as Beryl hits East Texas and Louisiana
Several people were killed in storm-related incidents in East Texas and one person was killed in Louisiana, authorities said.
A 53-year-old man and a 74-year-old woman were killed in two separate incidents Monday when trees fell on their homes, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.
A civilian Houston Police Department officer drowned after getting caught in floodwaters while driving to work, Whitmire said. In southeast Houston, a man died in a fire caused by a lightning strike as Hurricane Beryl loomed over the city.
A man driving a tractor was killed by a falling tree, according to Montgomery County Emergency Management, and two people were found dead inside a tent in a wooded area in Montgomery County, north of Houston. Other details were not available.
A woman was killed in northwest Louisiana when a tree fell on her home. According to a statement from the Bossier County Sheriff’s Office.
Hundreds of egrets killed in Beryl, hundreds rescued
Hurricane Beryl slammed into southeast Texas on Monday, throwing hundreds of egrets from their nests and drowning, the Houston chapter said. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said in a statement.
The nonprofit group said experts from the Texas Wildlife Center responded to the scene in Cypress, a city northwest of Houston, and rescued surviving injured and orphaned egrets.
Experts will bring about 300 birds back to campus for triage and medical treatment, the statement said.
Egrets are white waterbirds that live in wetlands across the U.S. According to the Houston Audubon Society, they can be found year-round in Texas and the Gulf Coast states.
Contributors: Doyle Rice, Mina Arshad, USA Today, Reuters