By Maria Ortiz
06 Jul 2024, 20:46 PM EDT
He Hurricane Berylthe first storm to reach Category 4 strength in June, weakened to a tropical storm after passing over Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. It is expected to reach the Texas coast after reorganizing again as a hurricane next Monday.according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
Hurricane Beryl is heading straight for Texas and is likely to make landfall on the state’s coast as a Category 1 or 2 storm early Monday morning, state emergency officials said.
In the southern tip of Texas, near Brownsville, Rain and tropical storm force winds could arrive by mid-morning Sunday, extending northward and reaching Corpus Christi in the early afternoon and Houston in the evening.
Dangerous winds will be felt along the mid and lower Texas coast since Sunday night.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned that for these areas there is an “increasing risk” of destructive hurricane-force winds and “potentially deadly” storm surges, so it asked its residents to stay up to date with new recommendations and follow the instructions of local authorities.
“Flash flooding in urban areas of significant magnitude is possible across portions of the Gulf Coast and eastern Texas from Sunday night through midweek,” NHC also warned.
Hurricane warning, disaster declaration and evacuations in Texas
The Texas coast has been under water since yesterday under hurricane warning due to Beryl’s advance, which made landfall early Friday morning as a Category 2 hurricane north of Tulum, in the Mexican Caribbean, and was downgraded to a tropical storm.
Weather service officials warn of Possible storm surge or tropical storm conditions in coastal areas ranging from the mouth of the Rio Grande to Louisiana.
On Saturday they were issued mandatory evacuation orders in Refugio and Nueces counties.
“Everyone along the coast should pay attention to this storm,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said at a news conference in AustinPatrick is serving as acting governor while Gov. Greg Abbott travels through Asia on an economic development trip.
Patrick issued a state disaster declaration reaching 121 counties on Saturday.
The National Weather Service projects that areas from Corpus Christi, through Victoria and Houston, to Beaumont, will face tornado risk.
At about 5 p.m. ET, Beryl was centered about 360 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, and moving west-northwest at 13 mph, the NHC said.
The system had maximum sustained winds of 100 kilometers per hour (65 miles per hour).
The center of Beryl, which as a hurricane reached the highest category five in the Caribbean, made landfall early Friday morning near Tulum and the track pattern shows that the Texas coast is exposed to its onslaught.
Beryl, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season and the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record, is moving at a speed of 24 kilometers per hour (15 miles per hour).
In the hurricane season in the Atlantic basin, which began on June 1, so far there have been 1,000 hurricanesto three named tropical storms: 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).
Keep reading:
• How Mexico is preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Beryl
• Hurricane Beryl: Alert issued for 7 million people in southern Texas
• Hurricane Beryl downgrades to tropical storm after hitting Yucatan Peninsula