Tropical Storm Beryl brought fierce winds and torrential rain to southeast Texas on Monday, killing at least three people, flooding highways, closing oil ports, canceling more than 1,300 flights and leaving more than 2.7 million homes and businesses without power.
Beryl, the season’s earliest Category 5 hurricane, battered the Texas coastal town of Matagorda with a dangerous storm surge and heavy rain before weakening into a hurricane and passing over Houston, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
The agency said tornadoes were possible in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.
The storm, which was expected to weaken rapidly as it moved inland, hit Jamaica, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines on a destructive path last week.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told reporters the hurricane killed at least 11 people in Mexico and the Caribbean before reaching Texas.
In Texas, a 53-year-old man and a 74-year-old woman were killed Monday in the Houston area when a tree fell on their home.
The third person was a city of Houston employee who was on his way to work and drowned in an underpass, Patrick said.
Refining activity in the state, the largest oil and natural gas producer in the United States, slowed and some production facilities were evacuated.
“If you live in Northeast Texas, please be careful. Tropical storm-force rains are possible until late at night or 1 a.m. Please stay off the roads as flooding and rain will occur,” Patrick said.
State officials are continuing rescue efforts as strong winds continue to blow and have yet to assess the economic damage.
Public Utility Commission of Texas Chairman Thomas Gleason said it could take several days to restore power.
Texas Emergency Management Director Nim Kidd said more than 2,500 emergency personnel were deployed across the state.
Warnings of a potentially deadly storm for areas in its path sent people rushing to board up windows and stock up on fuel and other necessities.
Television footage showed high winds and heavy rain battering cities and towns including Galveston, Sargent, Lake Jackson and Freeport before dawn.
By late morning, as the worst of the storm had passed, scores of downed trees and blocked roads in Houston were still visible. High winds and flooded roads left parts of major highways impassable, and the city closed off flooded areas.
Firefighters equipped with life jackets and ladder trucks rescued a man from a truck on a flooded highway, according to video posted to social media by Houston’s ABC news station.
Patrick said there were several other rescue efforts.
Mayor John Whitmire said floodwaters exceeded 10 inches in most parts of Houston.
“We’re literally getting calls from all over Houston right now for emergency personnel to rescue people who are in life-safety threatening situations,” Whitmire said.
The storm strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane as it moved across the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico before making landfall.
However, the NHC said the storm was expected to weaken to a tropical depression overnight and become a subtropical depression on Tuesday.
The storm moved northeast from east Texas on Monday afternoon, crossed Arkansas on Tuesday, was strong enough to bring more heavy rain to the lower Ohio Valley on Tuesday night and the lower Great Lakes region on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Coast Guard have deployed personnel to assist with search and rescue efforts.
FEMA has also prepared water, food and generators to bolster local response efforts, according to the Biden administration.
The school announced it would be closed due to the approaching storm.
Airlines canceled more than 1,300 flights and authorities ordered the evacuation of small numbers of residents in coastal towns.
Small businesses in Houston, including delivery services and chiropractors, delayed openings or closed their doors Monday.
More than 2.7 million homes and businesses in Texas lost power, according to Patrick and PowerOutage.us.
Flood warnings have been issued for several counties in southeast Texas, including Houston, home to many US energy company headquarters, after thunderstorms dumped up to 12 inches of rain in some areas.
Closures of major oil-shipping ports around Corpus Christi, Galveston and Houston ahead of the storm could disrupt crude exports, shipments of crude to refineries and shipments of motor fuel from plants.
The Corpus Christi Ship Channel has reopened and the Port of Houston is expected to resume operations Tuesday afternoon.
Some oil producers, including Shell and Chevron, have evacuated personnel from production platforms off the Gulf of Mexico in preparation for the storm.
Marathon Petroleum said in a statement that its refinery in Texas City, Texas, suffered a power outage on Monday during the storm.
