- Beryl is projected to come ashore near Matagorda Bay in the next two hours
Hurricane Beryl has made landfall in Texas this morning, lashing the Gulf Coast with 92mph winds and leaving more than 250,000 people without power.
Beryl came ashore as a Category 1 hurricane near Matagorda Beach around 4am Monday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) confirmed, bringing heavy rainfall, storm surge and gusty winds across the state.
Forecasters warn conditions in Texas are 'deteriorating' as the 'life-threatening' super storm moves inland. Up to 15 inches of rain is expected today and tornadoes are possible across much of the eastern part of the state.
The powerful storm, which was the earliest to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic, has already cut a deadly and devastating path through parts of Mexico and the Caribbean, leaving at least 11 people dead and flattening entire islands.
Latest radar shows that today Beryl will batter multiple southern Texas towns near Houston, but officials have cautioned that the path could still change. Thousands of people living in the storm's path have been encouraged to evacuate.
Highway 457 in Sargent Beach, Texas was flooded around 1.50am Monday as Hurricane Beryl prepared to make landfall in the state
Workers wrap plastic around a fuel pump to protect it from wind and rain due to Hurricane Beryl at Buc-ee's, in Freeport, Texas early Monday morning
Beryl made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane near Matagorda Beach around 4am Monday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) confirmed. This National Weather Service radar image was taken at 4.01am, just after the storm came ashore
Beryl's centre hit land as a Category 1 hurricane around 4am Central Standard Time, about 85 miles south-west of Houston with top sustained winds of 80mph while moving north at 12mph.
Beryl brought winds of 80mph to Texas, with even higher gusts at the time of landfall. According to the National Ocean Service Station, 92mph wind gusts were recorded near Freeport. Surfside Beach reported a 85mph gust.
Gusty winds, heavy rainfall, storm surge and tornadoes will continue across much of Texas today as Beryl moves inland. Forecasters predict a total of 5 to 10 inches of rain, with isolated totals reaching up to 15 inches in some areas.
A hurricane warning remains in effect for the Texas coast from Mesquite Bay north to Port Bolivar, the centre said.
Beryl is expected to quickly weaken to a tropical storm on Monday and a tropical depression Tuesday, the weather service said, forecasting a turn to the north-east and an increase in speed on Monday night and Tuesday.
The storm's centre is expected to move over eastern Texas on Monday and then through the lower Mississippi Valley into the Ohio Valley on Tuesday and Wednesday, the weather service said.
Beryl is forecast to weaken to a tropical depression around the time it moves into Arkansas Tuesday morning.
Forecasters warn conditions in Texas are 'deteriorating' as the 'life-threatening' super storm moves inland. Up to 15 inches of rain is expected today and tornadoes are possible across much of the eastern part of the state. Pictured is a flooded street in Matagorda, Texas around 12.30am Monday, before the storm made landfall
A car drives through a flooded road in Matagorda, Texas and battles up to 80mph winds before Beryl made landfall on Monday morning
Beryl has again strengthened into hurricane force (Houston Chronicle via AP)
More than 250,000 homes and businesses were without power in Texas as of Monday morning, according to PowerOutage.us.
The Texas energy industry had braced for storm Beryl's impact ahead of landfall, with threats from the intensifying weather system forcing the closure of key oil and gas shipping ports, slowing refining and prompting evacuation of some production sites.
Texas produces the most oil and natural gas, or more than 40 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively, of any area of the United States.
Over the weekend, the port of Corpus Christi, which is the country's leading crude oil export hub, closed operations and vessel traffic in preparation for Beryl. The ports of Houston, Galveston, Freeport and Texas City also shut ahead of the landfall.
Chemical company Chemours Co said on Sunday that it was prepared to adjust staffing and secure equipment during and after the storm passed, while Freeport LNG said it had its hurricane preparedness plan in place.
Enbridge Inc, which runs crude oil export facilities near Corpus Christi, also said it had activated emergency plans for assets along or near the US Gulf Coast.
Citgo Petroleum Corp, meanwhile, was reducing production over the weekend at its 165,000 barrel-per-day Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery, sources said.
Producers, including Shell and Chevron, also shut in production or evacuated personnel from their Gulf of Mexico offshore platforms.
Rain and swells from Hurricane Beryl along Surfside Beach, Texas on Sunday, July 7, 2024
Boats sit in a marina ahead of the arrival in Corpus Christi, Texas on Sunday, July 7, 2024, ahead of Beryl's arrival
Beryl was the earliest to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic. Pictured is Surfside Beach, Texas resident Josh Greenlee watching swells from Hurricane Beryl from his electric scooter at dusk on Sunday, July 7, 2024
Hurricane Beryl was predicted to rip through six US states, according to one terrifying model shown here on the pink line. Now that it's come closer to the US, southern Texas will be hit and so will parts of Arkansas
As the storm neared the coast, Texas officials warned Sunday it could cause power outages and flooding but also expressed worry that not enough residents and beach vacationers in Beryl's path had heeded warnings to leave.
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, who is serving as the state's acting governor while Gov. Greg Abbott is traveling overseas, warned residents that Beryl will be a 'deadly storm' for those in its path.
Officials are also concerned that not enough people in the likely impact zone are heeding warnings to leave.
'One of the things that kind of trigger our concern a little bit, we've looked at all of the roads leaving the coast and the maps are still green,' said Patrick.
'So we don't see many people leaving.'
The National Weather Service issued a tornado alert for parts of Texas including Houston, which is home to 2.3 million people.
'We have to take Beryl very, very seriously. Our worst enemy is complacency,' said Houston Mayor John Whitmire.
The mayor said he wanted residents in Houston 'to know the conditions that you go to sleep under tonight will not be the same that you wake up to in the morning.'
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, center, stands next to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Patrick is serving as acting governor while Abbott is traveling abroad
The ferocious hurricane already killed at least 11 people in St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Jamaica and Venezuela and caused significant damage to parts of the Caribbean. Pictured: Destruction on the island of Petite Martinique, Grenada
Jamaica was under a state of emergency as the island was declared a disaster zone hours before the impact of Hurricane Beryl on Wednesday
A damaged property in Carriacou, Grenada, July 2, 2024 after Hurricane Beryl tore through the island. Grenada's prime minister, after visiting Carriacou and Petite Martinique, has called the situation 'Armageddon-like' and said they will have to 'rebuild from the ground up'
Beryl has already proved its deadliness, killing at least 11 people in St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Jamaica and Venezuela while it was still a Category 5 storm.
It's also been incredibly destructive to infrastructure, the storm knocking out power to 400,000 homes and destroying scores of buildings in Jamaica.
Tropical storm winds extended 115 miles (185 kilometers) from the center, and the hurricane center warned residents to be prepared for possible flash flooding in parts of middle, upper and eastern Texas
Even Arkansas could experience flooding as the storm gradually turns northeast later Monday.
Along the Texas coast, many residents and business owners took typical precautions, while also expressing doubt about the storm's intensity.
In Port Lavaca, Jimmy May fastened plywood over the windows of his electrical supply company and said he wasn't concerned about the possible storm surge.
He recalled his business escaped flooding in a previous hurricane that brought a 20-foot storm surge.
'In town, you know, if you're in the low-lying areas, obviously, you need to get out of there,' he said.
At the nearby marina, Percy Roberts showed his neighbor Ken Waller how to properly secure his boat as heavy winds rolled in from the bay Sunday evening.
'This is actually going to be the first hurricane I'm going to be experiencing,' Waller said, noting that he's a little nervous but feels safe following Roberts' lead.
'Pray for the best but expect the worst, I guess.'
Jimmy May boards windows as he prepares for Hurricane Beryl's arrival, Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Port Lavaca, Texas
People watch waves crash into the 37th Street rock groin in Galveston, Texas on Sunday, July 7, 2024, as Tropical Storm Beryl churns toward the Texas coast
People walk amidst damaged property following the passing of Hurricane Beryl, in Union Island, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Workers with the Galveston Island Park Board of Trustees remove lifeguard towers from the beach near 57th Street in Galveston, Texas
The earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic, Beryl ripped off doors, windows and roofs across the Caribbean fueled by the Atlantic's record warmth.
The average date for the first hurricane of the summer is August 11.
And even of those that have formed in June, Beryl has formed the furthest east in the Atlantic Ocean since records began in the mid-1800s.
The previous record was held by Hurricane Two, which formed in 1933 off the coast of South America.
It's also incredibly rare for storms as powerful as Beryl to form this early.
Most hurricanes that form near the end of June or early July start off as tropical storms and sometimes strengthen into Category 1 systems, according to NOAA records, let alone Category fives.
Scientists say climate change likely plays a role in the rapid intensification of storms like Beryl, since there is more energy in a warmer ocean for them to feed on.
North Atlantic waters are currently between two and five degrees Fahrenheit (one to three degrees Celsius) warmer than normal, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Three times in 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.
Beryl approaches the Texas coast in the Gulf of Mexico in a NOAA composite satellite image from Sunday, July 7, 2024
A person stands amidst damaged property following the passing of Hurricane Beryl, in Union Island, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, on July 2, 2024
Residents fix the roof of their flooded house after a river swelled due to heavy rains following the passage of Hurricane Beryl on the road from Cumana to Cumanacoa, Sucre State, Venezuela, on July 2, 2024
The hurricane warning in Texas extended from Baffin Bay, south of Corpus Christi, to Sargent, south of Houston.
A flash flood watch was in effect for a wide swath of the Texas coast, where forecasters expected Beryl to dump as much as 10 inches of rain in some areas.
Potential storm surges between 4 and 7 feet above ground level were forecast around Matagorda, which is about 94 miles southwest of Houston.
The warnings extended to these same coastal areas where Hurricane Harvey came ashore in 2017 as a Category 4 hurricane, far more powerful than Beryl's expected intensity by the time the storm makes landfall.
Those looking to catch a flight out of the area could find that option all but impossible as Beryl closes in.
Hundreds of flights from Houston's two major commercial airports were delayed by midafternoon Sunday and dozens more canceled, according to FlightAware data.
Houston's airport also urged people not to seek shelter there.
'As the storm approaches and people plan to stay indoors and safe from the storm, we want to remind everyone that our airports are not equipped to serve as storm shelters. We lack the supplies and staff to accommodate people seeking refuge during the storm,' airport officials said.
Corpus Christi officials asked visitors to cut their trips short and return home early if possible.
Residents were advised to secure homes by boarding up windows if necessary and using sandbags to stem possible flooding.
An emergency crew clears the main road after Hurricane Beryl passed the day before, in the northern Saint Patrick parish town of Sauteurs, Grenada on July 2, 2024
Storm clouds hover over the mountains as people make last-minute preparations for the arrival of Hurricane Beryl on July 03, 2024 in Kingston, Jamaica
Pictured is a satellite image of 'very strong and powerful' Hurricane Beryl early Wednesday morning as it headed to Jamaica in the afternoon and to the Cayman Islands
The White House said Sunday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had sent emergency responders, search-and-rescue teams, bottled water, and other resources to areas on the Texas coast in anticipation of the hurricane.
Several coastal counties called for voluntary evacuations in low-lying areas that are prone to flooding.
Local officials also banned camping on beaches and urged tourists traveling on the Fourth of July holiday weekend to move RVs from coastal parks.
Beryl earlier this week battered Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane but causing no injuries or deaths before shrinking into a tropical storm as it moved across the Yucatan Peninsula.
