Warning of storm surge as Hurricane Beryl approaches Texas

Authorities are warning of "life-threatening" storm surges as Hurricane Beryl makes landfall in Texas with wind gusts as high as 87 mph (140 km/h).

In addition to damaging gusts, the category one storm is predicted to drop up to 15 inches (38 cm) of rain. On Monday morning, police started performing water rescues in one of the suburbs in the Houston region that had received a lot of rain.

While oil ports are shuttered and travel schedules are disrupted, the state governor's office has repeatedly warned locals not to underestimate the storm.

Before Beryl was reduced to a tropical storm as it made landfall on the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, she caused at least ten fatalities in the Caribbean.

Later on, it was upgraded once again, and as it got closer, a hurricane warning was issued for over a million Texans.

Parts of the city of Galveston, which lies southeast of Houston, have been placed under voluntary evacuation.

Just after 07:00 CST (13:00 BST), more than 150,000 people in the Lone Star State were without power, according to monitoring website poweroutage.us. However, a local energy company called CenterPoint claims that disruptions have impacted more than a million clients.

973 flights have been canceled at Houston's major airport, Bush Intercontinental Airport, according to flightaware.com.

Early on Monday morning, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) recorded maximum sustained wind speeds of 80 mph (130 km/h).

"Life-threatening storm surge and strong winds are occurring with considerable flash and urban flooding expected," it said.

According to officials, the storm may not be as powerful as it was in the Caribbean, but it could still disrupt life across Texas and potentially reach as far inland as Houston.

Finding a safe location to stay until Monday is advised for individuals in Beryl's path by US National Hurricane Center director Michael Brennan, "as hazardous conditions will persist even after the center of Beryl moves through."

"Flash flooding poses a very real concern to the Texas Gulf Coast, eastern Texas, and the ArkaTex [Arkansas-Texas] area.

Acting Governor Dan Patrick said, "Do not ignore this very serious storm."

Exports may temporarily stop due to the closure of the ports of Corpus Christi, Houston, Galveston, Freeport, and Texas City.

There are restrictions on all vessel movements and cargo activities.

Refugio County, which lies north of Galveston, announced a mandatory evacuation on Saturday. The county cited many factors, including the area's compromised infrastructure following Hurricane Harvey in 2017, the Fourth of July holiday traffic, and the restricted capacity of emergency services workers.

Meanwhile, Nueces County issued an order requiring tourists to evacuate and urged residents to do the same.

Mr. Patrick said that over 2,000 emergency personnel, including members of the Texas National Guard, had been prepared to handle Beryl's aftermath.

This kind of landfalling storm is quite uncommon for Texas in July, according to US forecaster AccuWeather.

Later this week, Beryl is predicted to proceed eastward throughout the central states of the United States, including Mississippi.

It will probably bypass central and west Texas in the process, since these regions are now dealing with moderate to severe drought.

Beryl the hurricane has been a unique storm. It was the first-ever documented Category Five storm at one point.

Devastation has already been left in its wake across the Caribbean, with St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Mayreau and Union, and Grenada being particularly heavily struck.

Thousands of people lost power as a result of the hurricane, which was also among the strongest to have strike Jamaica.

Beryl dumped a lot of rain on southern Mexico's popular tourist destinations, Tulum and Cancún. Although there was no significant damage recorded, the strong winds toppled trees and interrupted electricity.

Although it is difficult to link particular storms to climate change due to the complexity of the reasons, abnormally high sea surface temperatures are thought to be a major factor in Hurricane Beryl's extreme force.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued a warning that the North Atlantic might see up to seven major hurricanes this year, up from an average of three every season. This is the first storm of the 2024 Atlantic season.