Hurricane Beryl hits Texas, causing chaos and power outages

Hurricane Beryl lashed Texas with strong winds and heavy rain on Monday as it barreled inland, forcing the shutdown of oil ports, canceling hundreds of flights and leaving nearly 2 million homes and businesses without power.

Beryl, the first Category 5 hurricane of the season on record, made landfall near the Texas beach town of Matagorda early this morning, battering the coast with dangerous storm surges and heavy rainfall, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

The storm, which was expected to weaken quickly as it moved inland, swept a destructive path through Jamaica, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines last week, killing at least 11 people and uprooting buildings and power lines.

In Texas, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said on social media platform X on Monday that preliminary information indicated that one person died after a tree fell on a home.

In Texas, the largest US oil and gas producing state, the energy industry braced for Beryl’s impact as the powerful storm slowed refining activity and caused the evacuation of some production sites.

“Life-threatening storm surge and heavy rainfall continue across parts of Texas. Damaging winds continue along the coast, with strong winds moving inland,” the NHC said, adding that Beryl is now expected to lose strength.

After warnings that it could be a deadly storm for communities in its path, residents rushed to board up windows and stock up on fuel and other essential supplies.

Also Read: Storm Beryl May Regain Hurricane Strength On Track To Texas

Before dawn, strong gusts and torrential rain lashed cities and towns including Galveston, Sargent, Lake Jackson and Freeport, television footage showed.

The storm had strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane as it moved through the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico before making landfall, but the NHC said it was now expected to weaken quickly.

“Beryl is expected to weaken to a tropical storm later today and to a tropical depression on Tuesday,” the NHC said. “Stable to rapid weakening is expected as the center moves inland.”

Hurricanes usually weaken as they move inland.

Located about 55 miles (90 km) south-southwest of Houston, Beryl was moving at 12 mph (19 kph) and was expected to move over eastern parts of the state throughout the day before moving into the Lower Valley Mississippi and Ohio. Valley on Tuesday and Wednesday, the NHC said.

Acting Texas Gov. Dan Patrick on Sunday declared 120 counties disaster areas ahead of the storm and warned that Beryl would be deadly for people in its direct path.

Hurricane Beryl moves inland after making landfall in Texas, US in a composite satellite image July 8, 2024. PHOTO: REUTERS

Schools said they would close as the storm approached. Airlines canceled more than 1,300 flights and officials ordered a small evacuation of coastal towns.

More than 1.8 million Texas homes and businesses have lost power, according to local utilities and PowerOutage.us data.

Several counties in southeast Texas – including Houston, home to several US energy companies – are under a flash flood warning as storms dumped up to six inches (15 cm) of rain, with two to four inches more to come.

Resident Gary Short said he was more concerned about possible flooding, which the NHC warned was expected in parts of Texas through Monday night.

“I’m more worried about the rain than anything else,” he said as he filled up gas tanks at a gas station on Sunday. “Other than that, I’m not too worried. I’m just getting ready.”

The closure of major oil shipping ports around Corpus Christi, Galveston and Houston ahead of the storm could disrupt crude oil exports, along with shipments of crude to refineries and motor fuel from factories.

Some oil producers, including Shell ( SHEL.L ) and Chevron ( CVX.N ), evacuated staff from their offshore production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of the storm.