MATAGORDA, Texas — Power outages are mounting along the Texas coast after Beryl came ashore Monday and lashed Houston with heavy rains and powerful winds as the storm moved inland.
Nearly 1 million homes and businesses were without power hours after Beryl made landfall, according to CenterPoint Energy in Houston. High waters quickly began to close streets across Houston and flood warnings were in effect across a wide stretch of the Texas coast.
The National Weather Service expected Beryl to weaken to a tropical storm Monday and a tropical depression Tuesday, forecasting a turn to the northeast and increase in speed Monday night and Tuesday. The storm reached the U.S. after leaving a trail of destruction over the last week in Mexico and the Caribbean
The storm's center hit land as a Category 1 hurricane around 4 a.m. Central Standard Time about 85 miles southwest of Houston with top sustained winds of 80 mph (128.7 kph) while moving north at 12 mph (19.3 kph), the National Weather Service reported.
High waters quickly began closing roads around Houston, which was again under flood warnings after heavy storms in recent months washed out neighborhoods and knocked out power across the nation’s fourth-largest city.
More than 750,000 customers were without power, many of them around Houston, before daybreak Monday, according to CenterPoint Energy in Houston. More than 1,000 flights have been canceled at Houston’s two airports, according to tracking data from FlightAware
Beryl dumped soaking rains across Houston after coming ashore and was expected to bring damaging winds into East Texas, near Louisiana, as the storm pushed north after making landfall.
“Beryl’s moving inland but this is not the end of the story yet,” said Jack Beven, senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center.
Beryl strengthened and became a hurricane again late Sunday. The storm had weakened after leaving a path of deadly destruction through parts of Mexico and the Caribbean. (AP News)
READ MORE: [ Ссылка ]
