Beryl made landfall along the Texas coast as a Category 1 storm early Monday, unleashing a barrage of severe weather as it moved inland before weakening into a tropical storm still capable of widespread damage.
Through the morning much of eastern Texas was inundated with “life-threatening storm surge,” torrential rain and powerful wind gusts of up to 84 mph in the Houston area, the National Hurricane Center said. The dangerous conditions prompted rescue operations, disrupted hundreds of flights, left more than 2 million people without power and caused at least two deaths.
Beryl had sustained winds of over 80 mph as it made landfall at 4 a.m. near Matagorda, a coastal community between Corpus Christi and Galveston, according to the hurricane center. More than five hours later, the storm weakened to a tropical storm, continuing to push inland with sustained winds at 70 mph, uprooting trees and knocking over power poles.
In a suburban part of Harris County, just northeast of Houston, a man was killed when a tree fell on his home and trapped him under debris, according to Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, who said on X that the incident was “Tragic!” In northern Harris County, a tree fell onto a house and killed a 74-year-old woman, Gonzalez said on social media.
Last week, Beryl carved a path of destruction across the Caribbean — leaving at least 11 people dead and destroying or severely damaging infrastructure on several islands. Beryl, which at one point strengthened into the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record, last made landfall on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula Friday morning.
The storm then weakened into a tropical storm and then strengthened back into a hurricane before making landfall in Texas.