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

Hurricane Beryl on path for Yucatan Peninsula, Gulf of Mexico

Tropical storm Beryl is now charting a dangerous path towards Texas, with state officials issuing a disaster declaration for 40 counties and urging residents across the coast to evacuate.

The National Hurricane Center has forecast Beryl will bring dangerous rip currents to the Gulf Coast over the weekend before likely hitting southern Texas late on Sunday.

The storm is forecast to re-strengthen into a hurricane as it moves into the Gulf of Mexico and will have become a category 1 hurricane by the time it makes landfall in the US.

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.”

Beryl has so far killed at least eleven people in St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Jamaica and Venezuela after it charted a deadly path through the Caribbean as a category five hurricane earlier in the week.

On Wednesday, the storm knocked out power to 400,000 homes and destroyed buildings in Jamaica. On Friday morning, it made landfall on the popular Mexico tourist destination Tulum with 85mph winds and dangerous storm surge.

Key Points

• Tropical Storm Beryl to hit Gulf of Mexico within hours
• Mapped: Beryl’s path
• Beryl on path to hit Texas by late Sunday
• Texas governor directs residents to make ‘emergency plan’ for Beryl
• Beryl death toll rises to eleven
• Texas residents given voluntary evacuation nudge

[5 July 2024 11:37 · Amelia Neath]

Hurricane Beryl close to landfall in the Yucatan Peninsula with 110mph winds

Hurricane Beryl has weakened ever so slightly in its wind speed as is hurtles towards Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, with 110mph maximum sustained winds.

Only 40 miles (65km) east of Tulum in Mexico, Beryl is expected to make landfall in Mexico within the next few hours. The National Hurricane Center warns of storm surge that could raise water levels as much as four to six feet above ground levels along the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, bringing with it large and destructive waves.

Throughout today, weather experts predict rainfall totals of four to six inches, with localized amounts of 10 inches in the area, with scattered instances of flash flooding.

Large swells are already impacting portions of the coast of Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and the Yucatan Peninsula, and are expected to reach eastern Mexico and much of the Gulf Coast of the US by late today.

These swells are predicted to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.