Beryl live updates: Texas issues disaster declaration for 40 counties ahead of hurricane making landfall
Beryl is now a tropical storm but is expected to regain strength over the weekend as it heads for Texas
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Beryl is heading toward Texas after making landfall at the popular Mexico tourist destination Tulum on Friday morning with 85mph winds and dangerous storm surge. The state’s Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has issued a disaster declaration for 40 counties ahead of the storm’s arrival.
Tropical Storm Beryl is set to bring dangerous rip currents to the Gulf Coast over the weekend before likely hitting southern Texas late Sunday. The storm will likely re-strengthen into a hurricane as it moves into the Gulf of Mexico, the National Weather Service said. Beryl is expected to hit Texas as a Category 1 hurricane, according to Accuweather.
Governor Greg Abbott warned Texans to prepare for impact.
“As Texans and visitors in south coastal areas celebrate Independence Day, I urge them to also make an emergency plan to stay safe,” Abbott said.
Hurricane Beryl has killed at least eleven people, the Associated Press reports. Two of those killed — the first in St George’s, Grenada and the second in Hanover, Jamaica — died after hurricane-force winds knocked trees onto their homes.
Hurricane Beryl devastated Jamaica on Wednesday, knocking out power to 400,000 and destroying buildings. Grenada was also left with “unimaginable” destruction after the storm passed through Monday, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said, leaving 98 percent of buildings damaged or destroyed.
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Beryl projected to make landfall near southeast Texas early Monday
National Weather Service projections show Storm Beryl’s projected landfall in the US will be along Texas’ southeast coast just south of Corpus Christi.
The storm is expected to make landfall in Texas early Monday morning, but the region will see rains from the storm beginning late on Sunday night.
The storm currently has maximum sustained winds close to 60mph, with tropical-storm-force winds extending up to 125 miles from its center.
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Texas officials issue disaster declaration for 40 counties ahead of Beryl landfall
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick — who is acting governor while Governor Greg Abbott is out of country traveling — has issued a disaster declaration for 40 counties ahead of Beryl’s landfall as an expected Category 1 hurricane.
The declaration allows state resources to be used in preperatory work and recovery efforts.
Abbott advised Texans living in the storm’s path to begin preparing now for the storm’s arrival.
WATCH: Beryl hits parts of Mexico
Watch live: Tourists left stranded at Cancun airport after Hurricane Beryl makes landfall on Mexican coast
Hurricane Beryl strengthened back into a Category 3 storm with winds of 115 mph on Thursday, July 4, and made landfall on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula overnight.
Beryl is now heading toward Texas after making landfall at the popular Mexico tourist destination Tulum on Friday morning with 85mph winds and dangerous storm surge.
Watch live:
Watch live: Tourists stranded at Cancun airport after Hurricane Beryl makes landfall
Watch live on Saturday (6 July) as tourists have been stranded at Cancun airport after Hurriance Beryl made landfall on the Mexican coast
Beryl hurricane, storm surge watches in effect across Texas and north coastal Mexico
The National Weather Service announced storm surge and hurricane wanrings for Texas’ east coast on Friday night.
Those warnings extend from the mouth of the Rio Grande to San Luis Pass further north.
Coastal Harris County is also under the warning.
The hurricane watch is in effect for Mexico’s northeastern coast between Barra el Mezquital to the mouth of the Rio Grande.
Texas residents given voluntary evacuation nudge
Officials in Matagorda County emergency management called for a voluntary evacuation on Friday night for residents living and visiting the state’s coast ahead of Beryl’s arrival on Sunday.
The voluntary evaucation includes residents in Sargent, Matagorda, and Palacios counties.
A voluntary evacuation is essentially a strong recommendation for residents to and visitors to seek shelter elsewhere until it is safe to return.
Rains from Beryl may stretch well into next week for Texans
When Storm Beryl arrives in Texas as a Category 1 hurricane, it is expected to bring 5-10 inches of rainfall, with some locations seeing as high as 15 inches.
The rain will most affect the eastern coast of Texas beginning later on Sunday and stretching into the middle of next week, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Along with the rain high winds, the storm will also bring a 2-5 foot storm surge to the coast.
World Central Kitchen sends aid to Carriacou Island
World Central Kitchen, a disaster relief non-profit, has sent a support team to Grenada’s Carriacou Island in the wake of Beryl.
The storm “flattened” the island in half an hour on Monday, officials said, after it swept through the region as a Category 5 hurricane.
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