Beryl unleashes high winds, heavy rains on Texas residents
MATAGORDA, Texas — Tropical Storm Beryl unleashed heavy rains and powerful winds across the state of Texas on Monday, knocking out power to more than two million homes and businesses and flooding streets with fast-rising waters as first responders raced to rescue stranded residents.
Beryl had already cut a deadly path through parts of Mexico and the Caribbean before making a turn and later sweeping ashore as a Category 1 hurricane in Texas early Monday. At least two people were killed. The National Hurricane Center said damaging winds and flash flooding will continue as Beryl continues pushing inland.
More than two million homes and businesses in the Houston area were without power, CenterPoint Energy officials said. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is acting governor while Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is out of the country, said crews cannot get out to fix power lines until the wind dies down.
High waters quickly began to close streets. In flood-weary Houston, where previous storms had already washed out neighborhoods, television stations on Monday broadcast the dramatic rescue of a man who had climbed to the roof of his pickup truck after it got trapped in fast-flowing waters. Emergency crews used an extension ladder from a fire truck to drop him a life preserver and a tether before moving him to dry land.
Houston was under a flashflood warning for most of the morning as heavy rain continued to soak the city. Flood warnings also were in effect across a wide stretch of the Texas coast, where a powerful storm surge pushed water ashore, and further inland as heavy rain continued to fall. Suni Jugueta, a captain with the police department in the Houston suburb of Rosenberg, said emergency officials made three water rescues overnight.
Rosenberg police also noted that one of their high-water vehicles was hit by a falling tree while returning from a rescue, and they urged people to stay off the roads.
Video footage showed heavy street flooding in the barrier island city of Galveston, and
Two people were killed after trees fell on their houses: a man in the Houston suburb of Humble and a woman in Harris County, authorities said. Hundreds
of trees fell in the county, crushing vehicles and damaging homes, said Precinct 4 County Constable Mark Herman.
Beryl and the widespread power outages were just the latest weather blows for Houston, where nearly one million people lost power when deadly storms ripped through the area in May, killed eight people and brought much of the city to a standstill.
Texas officials warned people along the entire coastline to prepare for possible flooding, heavy rain and wind. Several coastal counties called for voluntary evacuations in low-lying areas. Local officials also banned beach camping and urged tourists traveling on the Fourth of July holiday weekend to move recreational vehicles from coastal parks.
Tornadoes and flash flooding were also possible in eastern Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas, the hurricane center said.
More than 1,000 flights have been canceled at Houston’s two airports, according to tracking data from FlightAware.
The earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic, Beryl caused at least 11 deaths as it passed through the Caribbean on its way to Texas. The storm ripped off doors, windows and roofs with devastating winds and storm surge fueled by the Atlantic’s record warmth.
Three times during its one week of life, Beryl has gained 35 mph in wind speed in 24 hours or less, the official weather service definition of rapid intensification.