Hurricane Beryl pounded the coast with ferocity, making landfall near Matagorda, Texas, at 3:50 a.m. CST Monday as a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of more than 80 mph.
Over the next few hours, Beryl will move inland, bringing flooding rains, life-threatening storm surges, damaging wind gusts and the threat of tornadoes.
The cyclone’s powerful hurricane-force winds could cause power outages and property damage.
Already, wind gusts of 91 mph have been recorded in Freeport, 89 mph in Matagorda Bay, 85 mph in the city of Matagorda and 81 mph in Palacios.
More than 90,000 power customers in Texas are already without power.
Numerous hurricane warnings, storm surge watches and tropical storm warnings were issued ahead of the storm and remain in effect for parts of the Gulf Coast of Texas.
Storm surges of 3 to 7 feet are expected in some places near Beryl, and water is already washing onto Texas coasts and bays as Beryl approaches.
As of 2:30 a.m. CST, 3.2 feet had been measured in Sargent and 2.6 feet in Matagorda Bay.
“That storm surge is flowing right into Treasure Island,” FOX Weather storm tracker Mark Sudduth said. “You can literally see it flowing in like a raging river right now.”
There are violent wind gusts and heavy rainfall of 2 to 4 inches per hour.
“The whole bottom of your feet feels like they’re burning, because it tingles,” FOX Weather forecaster Britta Merwin said while reporting live from Surfside Beach, Texas, early Monday morning. “The raindrops become like pin heads. It’s like you’re getting a tattoo. It feels like there’s constant needle pressure on your skin.”
Beryl’s Forecast
Hurricane-force winds of more than 74 mph are expected to continue near the center of the storm. The hurricane is expected to pass near the Houston metropolitan area late Monday morning, with tropical storm-force wind gusts of more than 40 mph expected within 115 miles of Beryl’s center.
Much of East Texas is expected to see 5 to 10 inches of rain by the time Beryl leaves, with localized amounts reaching 15 inches.
Between 5 and 8 inches of rain is currently expected to fall in the Houston area, with even more expected in the southern and western suburbs.
Meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Corpus Christi, Texas, said any of the outer rain bands could produce tropical storm-force gusts and even isolated tornadoes.
Beryl will continue to move north, bringing rain and strong winds to northern Michigan by the weekend.
Beryl’s current forecast cone shows the storm weakening as it moves north but maintaining tropical storm strength from Arkansas to Michigan through the rest of the week.
A tropical cyclone is a cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 38 miles per hour or less.
Unlike tropical storms and hurricanes, tropical cyclones are identified by numbers rather than names.
The Weather Prediction Center predicted flash flooding was possible from Arkansas to central Illinois from Tuesday into Wednesday.
Beryl’s destructive past
Beryl formed on June 29th, becoming the first hurricane of the season. After rapidly intensifying across the Atlantic Ocean into the Caribbean, the storm broke multiple records on its journey.
Beryl made its first landfall on Carriacou Island on Monday, July 1, as an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane.
Beryl continued to strengthen, reaching Category 5 strength by Monday night, just hours after striking the Windward Islands.
Beryl broke the record for the fastest observed Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic Basin.
Beryl moved through the Caribbean Sea and approached Jamaica on Wednesday, forcing Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness to declare the island a disaster area.
Beryl traveled several miles off the coast of Jamaica, generating huge waves along the coast of Kingston, and as it passed the island, a storm surge caused water to flow into Kingston.
Hurricane Beryl strengthened and headed straight for Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.
Early Saturday morning, Beryl made a second landfall northeast of Tulum at 6:05 a.m. ET as a strong Category 2 hurricane with maximum winds estimated at 110 mph.
The hurricane brought heavy rains and storm surges to some of Mexico’s most popular tourist destinations.
Despite weakening off the Yucatan Peninsula, Beryl emerged in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico on Saturday and continued moving northward through the weekend.
Texas marked Beryl’s third and final landfall, with the storm expected to strengthen as it moves northward across the United States.
Beryl killed at least 10 people as she crossed the Caribbean.
