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Hurricane Beryl strengthens, makes landfall along Texas coast: Live updates

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Hurricane Beryl strengthens, makes landfall along Texas coast: Live updates

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Hurricane Beryl made landfall along the Texas coast as a Category 1 storm early Monday, unleashing damaging winds and torrential rain that caused widespread power outages and triggered tornado warnings.

Strengthening from a tropical storm back into a hurricane, Beryl had winds of over 80 mph as it made landfall around 4:30 a.m. near Matagorda, a coastal community between Corpus Christi and Galveston, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The National Weather Service issued flash flood advisories as some parts of southeast Texas were receiving 2 to 4 inches of rain per hour. Meanwhile, damaging winds of 92 mph were reported in Freeport, a city east of Matagorda.

Minutes after landfall, the National Weather Service in Houston issued a tornado warning for several locations.

Last week, Beryl carved a path of destruction across the Caribbean — leaving at least 11 people dead and destroying or severely damaging infrastructure on several islands. Beryl, which at one point strengthened into the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record, last made landfall on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula Friday morning before it weakened into a tropical storm.

Developments:

∎ School districts along the Texas Gulf Coast, including Houston’s, said they would be closed Monday. The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County also suspended transportation service ahead of Beryl.

∎ The storm prompted closures or vessel traffic restrictions at multiple ports in cities from Houston to Corpus Christi. The ports of Corpus Christi, Houston, Galveston, Freeport, and Texas City said they closed after condition “Zulu” was set by U.S. Coast Guard captains on Sunday.

∎ The National Weather Service warned of life-threatening storm surges that could cause coastal flooding and rip currents.

∎ More than 398,000 homes and businesses were without power across the state, according to Poweroutage.us, a website that tracks power outages.

The National Hurricane Center issued hurricane warnings across much of the Texas coast on Sunday, warning that Beryl could bring damaging hurricane-force winds and 5 to 10 inches of rain. Rainfall of up to 15 inches was also expected in portions of the middle and upper Texas Gulf Coast and eastern Texas.

Water levels began to rise in coastal areas on Sunday and multiple local authorities advised residents to evacuate ahead of landfall. Officials also told residents to prepare for Beryl’s impacts by stocking up on supplies, filling up gas tanks, and keeping up with updates, as the storm was forecast to cause heavy rains, flash floods, and potential tornadoes inland.

Acting Texas Governor Dan Patrick said Beryl “will be a deadly storm for people who are directly in that path,” and issued a disaster declaration for 120 counties.

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Beryl is threatening Texas’ largest city and the nation’s fourth-biggest city, with another potential heavy rain event.

The greater Houston area — particularly the western half of the metro area — will see “significant effects in the form of strong, battering winds in addition to heavy rainfall,” said meteorologist Eric Berger on the SpaceCityWeather blog.

Rainfall totals could reach 15 inches in some areas, the weather service warned, which could lead to flash flooding.

The city has already faced severe storms in recent months that downed trees and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of homes in the area and surrounding areas.

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On July 1, Beryl made landfall in Grenada’s Carriacou Island as a Category 4 hurricane and tore through the southern Caribbean Islands, flattening hundreds of buildings.

Later that night, Beryl became the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record. Driven by record-high ocean temperatures, Beryl’s rapid strengthening stunned experts. Beryl was also the earliest Category 4 hurricane on record and is the first June major hurricane east of the Lesser Antilles on record.

Federal forecasters have predicted a hurricane season unlike any other, with as many as 25 named storms possible. It is the most storms the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has ever predicted in a preseason outlook.

Contributing: Jorge L. Ortiz and Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY; Reuters

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