Sherry Cothron and Jimmy May board windows as they prepare for Hurricane Beryl’s arrival, Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Port Lavaca, Texas.
Eric Gay/AP
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Eric Gay/AP
Beryl returned to a hurricane-strength storm as it approached the central Texas coastline early Monday, spurring state officials to warn residents of the .
Beryl is now a Category 1 hurricane, and is expected to make landfall “within the next hour or two,” the National Hurricane Center said in its 4 a.m. ET update.
Beryl was 15 miles south-southeast of Matagorda, Texas, and 100 miles east-northeast of Corpus Christi as it carried maximum sustained winds of 80 miles per hour, the hurricane center said.
Beryl is the earliest Atlantic storm in a calendar year to become a Category 5 hurricane. It left at least 11 people dead as it tore through the Caribbean last week.
Beryl briefly weakened into a tropical storm after passing through Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. But with Beryl’s newly regained hurricane-strength winds, the NHC has issued a litany of advisories for the area stretching from Galveston to Mesquite Bay to Corpus Christi. Storm surges could increase the water levels from 3 to 7 feet in those regions. Rainfall is forecasted to range from 5 to 15 inches.
“As Hurricane Beryl approaches the Texas coast, now is the time for Texans to make their final preparations to protect themselves and their property,” Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Sunday. “121 counties are already under state disaster declaration, and more may be added if conditions warrant.”
Patrick said more than 2,500 responders have been dispatched across the state, from departments including FEMA, parks and wildlife, health services and transportation.
On Sunday, Director of the Texas Division of Emergency Management Nim Kidd echoed Patrick in pleading with the public to take it seriously.
“There will be inland flooding, and what we find is this freshwater inland flooding tends to be more of a killer of our citizens than the actual storm surge,” Kidd said. “So please, please do not drive through water. Turn around. Don’t drown.”
From Texas, Beryl is expected to move inland across Arkansas on Tuesday.
Luke Garrett contributed reporting.