Beryl Downgrades to Tropical Depression After Striking Texas as a Category 1 Hurricane

HOUSTON (AP) — Hurricane Beryl struck Texas early Monday, cutting power to almost 3 million homes and businesses, bringing heavy rain, and resulting in at least three fatalities. The storm moved east and weakened to a tropical depression by Monday evening, according to the National Hurricane Center. The swift-moving storm was expected to impact several more states in the coming days.

State and local officials in Texas warned that it could take several days to restore power after Beryl made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane, toppling 10 transmission lines and downing trees that disrupted power lines.

Beryl later weakened into a tropical storm and eventually a tropical depression, significantly less powerful than the Category 5 hurricane that caused devastating destruction in parts of Mexico and the Caribbean the previous weekend. However, the winds and rain from the quick-moving storm were still strong enough to knock down hundreds of trees already weakened by waterlogged soil and strand numerous vehicles on flooded roads.

As the storm moved inland, it posed a tornado threat, with the National Weather Service confirming sightings of tornadoes in northeastern Louisiana. Bossier Sheriff Julian Whittington reported on Facebook that a woman in the Benton area was killed when a tree fell on her home. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, acting as governor while Gov. Greg Abbott was out of the country, cautioned that restoring power would be a “multiple-day process.”

Houston was heavily impacted, with CenterPoint Energy reporting more than 2 million homes and businesses lost power in and around the fourth-largest city in the U.S. Patrick mentioned that the company was bringing in thousands of extra workers to restore electricity, prioritizing critical locations like nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

At least two fatalities occurred when trees fell on homes, and the National Hurricane Center warned that damaging winds and flash flooding would persist as Beryl traveled inland. A third victim, a civilian employee of the Houston Police Department, was killed after being trapped in floodwaters under a highway overpass, according to Houston Mayor John Whitmire. Although no widespread structural damage was immediately reported, the loss of power was a familiar scenario for Houston, which had recently experienced powerful storms that claimed eight lives, left nearly 1 million without power, and flooded numerous streets in May.

Residents without power did their best to cope. Eva Costancio, 67, from Rosenberg, a Houston suburb, noted, “We haven’t really slept,” as she looked at a large tree that had fallen across electric lines near her home. She had already been without power for several hours and was concerned about food spoilage. “We are struggling to have food and losing that food would be difficult,” she said.

Houston and Harris County officials assured that power crews would be dispatched to restore service as quickly as possible, emphasizing the urgency for homes without air conditioning during the summer. Temperatures, slightly cooled by the storm, were expected to rise back into the 90s by Tuesday. The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory, warning that the heat index could reach 105 degrees Fahrenheit (41 degrees Celsius).

State emergency operations chief Nim Kidd stated that the state would be ready to open cooling centers and distribute food and water.

Beryl’s rainfall pounded Houston and other coastal areas on Monday, causing streets in previously flooded neighborhoods to close again. Local TV stations aired the dramatic rescue of a man who climbed onto the roof of his pickup truck after it was trapped in fast-moving water. Emergency crews used a fire truck ladder to drop him a life preserver and tether before moving him to safety.

Houston officials reported at least 25 water rescues by Monday afternoon, mostly involving people in vehicles stuck in floodwaters. “First responders are putting their lives at risk. That’s what they’re trained for. It’s working,” said Mayor Whitmire.

Javier Mejia, among about 20 people near the rescue site, took pictures of other submerged vehicles on the flooded highway. “If you don’t have a way through, you’re going to get stuck like that,” he said. Mejia, having experienced previous storms in Houston, stocked up on food and water but forgot gas for his portable generator and planned to spend the day searching for some. “I don’t want it to go bad,” he said about the food, adding that if he couldn’t find gas, “We can just fire up the grill.”

Throughout Houston, streets and neighborhoods were strewn with fallen branches and debris. The sound of chainsaws filled the air Monday afternoon as residents began clearing knocked-down trees and large branches blocking streets and sidewalks.

Patrick warned that flooding could persist for days as rain continued to fall on already saturated ground. “This is not a one-day event,” he said.

President Joe Biden received regular updates on the storm after it made landfall, the White House said. The U.S. Coast Guard and FEMA had prepared search and rescue teams, with FEMA also gathering bottled water, meals, tarps, and generators for potential need. Several companies with industrial plants in the area reported that the power disruptions led to the flaring of gases.

Marathon Petroleum Corp. reported conducting a “safe combustion of excess gases” at its Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City but did not specify the amount or duration. Formosa Plastics Corporation and Freeport LNG also reported flaring related to Beryl, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Companies have 24 hours to report emissions data after flaring stops, a TCEQ representative said via email. Beryl, the earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic, caused at least 11 deaths in the Caribbean on its way to Texas. In Jamaica, officials said the island would face food shortages after the storm destroyed over $6.4 million in crops and infrastructure.

In Louisiana, heavy rain bands were expected all day Monday, with a risk of flash flooding, said meteorologist Donald Jones in a Monday morning Facebook Live briefing. The weather service in Shreveport issued tornado warnings across northwest Louisiana, confirming multiple tornado sightings on social media. Information on significant damage from these events was not immediately available.

Beryl was forecast to continue bringing heavy rain and strong winds to additional states in the coming days. Missouri, already experiencing a wet summer, was expected to see more water rescues in Columbia, where rivers and creeks were high ahead of Beryl’s expected arrival on Tuesday.