Beryl leaves two dead, a major blackout and hundreds of cancelled flights in the US

The now tropical storm Beryl has claimed at least two lives on Monday in Texas (USA.)has left more than 2.5 million customers in the state without electricity and forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights. According to the Harris County Sheriff, Ed Gonzalez, who reported on social networks, two people have died after, in both cases, a tree fell on their homes in the area of Houston as a result of strong winds.

The sheriff said a 74-year-old woman died in her bedroom after a tree fell through the roof of her home. Moments earlier, Gonzalez reported the death of a 53-year-old father.

“He was sitting at home with his family, weathering the storm. An oak tree fell on the roof and hit the rafters, the structure fell on the man. Wife and children unharmed,” the sheriff explained on social network X.

Beryl, which made landfall in the Texas town of Matagorda early Monday morning as a Category 1 cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson scale, is dumping heavy rains in the southeast of the state, where strong winds are also recorded.

According to the specialist website PowerOutage, by midday today more than 2.5 million homes and offices were without power due to the first hurricane to hit US soil in the current Atlantic season.

By midday today, 70% of flights at George Bush Intercontinental Airport and William P. Hobby International Airport, both in Houston (the fourth most populous city in the US), were cancelled.

The first one even recorded sustained winds of 95 kilometers per hour (59 miles), and a gust of 132 kilometers per hour (82 miles), according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).

After making landfall at around 4:00 a.m. local time (9:00 GMT), the first daylight images show flooded streets, fallen trees and debris in coastal towns such as Surfside Beach, where vehicle traffic remains closed.

Storm surge

According to the NHC, Beryl is moving inland as a tropical storm, with maximum sustained winds of 110 kilometers per hour (70 miles per hour), heading northeast and at a speed of 20 km/h (13 mph).

The hurricane is expected to continue across Texas through today, then move into the Mississippi Valley on Tuesday and into the Ohio Valley on Wednesday. The storm’s eye is located 20 miles (30 kilometers) west-northwest of Houston, and continued weakening is expected as the center moves inland, possibly leading to a tropical depression on Tuesday.

The current concern is the storm surge Beryl produces, which could raise sea levels up to about six feet (1.8 meters) above average in cities like Freeport and Galveston.

In the latter, according to The New York Times, there has already been around a metre and a half rise in sea level.

The U.S. National Weather Service has issued a storm surge watch for Galveston and Houston due to Beryl, which formed as a tropical storm on June 29 and strengthened into a hurricane the next day.

Before reaching the United States, Beryl reached the highest category of 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale a week ago in the Caribbean, where it caused death and destruction, and then made landfall early Friday morning in Tulum, Mexico.

Three named tropical storms have formed so far during the Atlantic hurricane season, which began on June 1: Alberto, Beryl and Chris.

This year’s Atlantic hurricane season is set to be well above average, with up to 13 hurricanes possible, including up to seven major hurricanes, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

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