Hurricane Beryl makes landfall
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Tropical Storm Beryl made landfall as a hurricane early Monday morning. Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Hurricane Beryl made landfall south of Houston on Monday morning and will continue to wreak havoc in the area throughout the day.
The latest: More than 530,000 CenterPoint Energy customers are without power as the storm moves inland, with more outages possible as winds damage infrastructure.
- TranStar is reporting minimal road flooding, although parts of Harris and other counties are under a flash flood warning. The Houston Fire Department has responded to at least nine water rescues since 5:30am.
- The storm's maximum sustained winds were 80 mph as of 6am.
- Communities in Matagorda County have seen close to 5 inches of rain since midnight, according to the National Weather Service. Some areas could see up to 10 inches by the afternoon.
Threat level: Even as Beryl moves north, Houston's daily rain pattern will continue in the coming days as Gulf moisture combines with the heat of the day, according to meteorologists with the National Weather Service.
What they're saying: Public safety officials say to stay put as the storm moves farther inland.
- "It's not safe to be outside between midnight and noon," Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said during a press conference last night. "We don't want people having to have first responders putting themselves in danger simply because they didn't heed the advice to stay indoors."
What's next: Officials will start to evaluate damage as soon as conditions allow.
- CenterPoint Energy has about 4,500 technicians ready to restore power but does not have an estimated time of restoration.
Context: Beryl intensified as it inched closer to the Texas coast.
- The storm formed last week east of the Windward Islands before slamming Jamaica and Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula.
- After briefly weakening in the Gulf of Mexico, the storm once again gained hurricane strength ahead of this morning's landfall.
Between the lines: Beryl is the poster child for what experts say will be an active hurricane season.
Check out our 2024 Atlantic hurricane season tracker.