Beryl labeled ‘deadly storm’ as 121 Texas counties brace for hurricane’s impact: live

According to the NHC, there is a risk of life-threatening storm surge flooding along the Texas coast from Mesquite Bay to Sabine Pass, including Matagorda Bay and Galveston Bay.

Conditions are expected to deteriorate with dangerous storm surges, flash flooding and strong winds as Beryl is expected to make landfall as a hurricane along the Texas coast, according to the National Hurricane Center.

According to the 10 p.m. CDT advisory, Beryl is located 75 miles (120 km) southeast of Matagorda, Texas, and about 110 miles (180 km) east of Corpus Christi, Texas.

The storm is moving with sustained wind speeds of up to 110 km/h.

Communities in Florida are joining forces to help other communities affected by Hurricane Beryl.

The storm killed at least nine people in the Caribbean and also hit the island of Carriacou in Grenada earlier this week.

Florida residents, no strangers to the power of hurricanes, have begun donating essential items and volunteering their time to prepare the donated goods for shipment to hurricane-affected communities that need them most.

Rain and increasing winds battered residents along the Texas coast as powerful Storm Berly approached, leaving a trail of destruction across parts of Mexico and the Caribbean.

Although Beryl was still a tropical storm as it moved toward Texas on Sunday, the storm threatened to regain hurricane strength in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico before making landfall Monday morning.

The storm was expected to make landfall in the mid-Texas coast around Matagorda Bay, an area about 100 miles (161 kilometers) south of Houston. However, officials warned that its path could still change.

Texas officials warned that the storm would cause power outages and flooding, but also expressed concern that not enough coastal residents and beach vacationers in Beryl’s path were heeding warnings to leave. “One of the things that concerns us a little bit is we’ve looked at all the roads that leave the coast and the maps are still green,” said Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is serving as the state’s acting governor.

Beryl is expected to make landfall in southeast Texas early Monday morning as a Category 1 hurricane.

State officials have issued disaster declarations for 121 counties in advance of the storm’s arrival.

Joe Biden and administration officials are closely monitoring the development of Tropical Storm Beryl as it moves toward southeast Texas.

“We are in close contact with our state and local counterparts and FEMA has pre-positioned response personnel, search and rescue teams, bottled water, meals, tarps, and electrical generators in case they are needed. On Sunday, FEMA activated its National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) to further support local response efforts,” the White House said in a statement to reporters on Sunday.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is acting governor while Gov. Greg Abbott is abroad, has issued a disaster declaration for 121 counties ahead of Beryl’s landfall as an expected Category 1 hurricane on Monday morning.

The declaration allows state funds to be used for preparatory and restoration work.

Abbott advised Texans living near the storm to start preparing now for the storm’s arrival.

Hurricane season is upon us, with devastating flooding and high winds in coastal areas of the United States, the Caribbean and Central America. Emergency officials are urging people to be prepared.

Unlike previous hurricane seasons, this summer is bringing record-high temperatures across the country and an early start to storms. Hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, but normally most hurricanes occur in September and October, said Jaime Hernandez, the emergency management director for Hollywood, on Florida’s Atlantic coast.

The Texas Division of Emergency Management warned residents in areas likely to be hit by Tropical Storm Beryl (which is expected to make landfall Monday as a Category 1 hurricane) not to drive through floodwaters during the storm, as doing so could be fatal.

“There’s going to be inland flooding, and what we’re seeing is that this freshwater flooding inland is more deadly to our citizens than the actual storm surge,” Chief W Nim Kidd said at a news conference. “So please don’t drive through the water. Turn around. Don’t drown.”