Photos: Hurricane Beryl flips semi-trucks, knocks out power after Texas landfall

SURFSIDE BEACH, Texas – Monday’s sunrise revealed widespread damage on the Texas Gulf Coast Monday hours after Hurricane Beryl made landfall, sending storm surge into coastal communities and knocking out power to more than 2 million people.

Hurricane Beryl made landfall near the city of Matagorda in Texas early Monday morning as a Category 1 hurricane. The historic storm has already claimed at least 10 lives across the Caribbean islands and two in Texas as of Monday. 

FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin was in Surfside Beach throughout Sunday night. The area saw storm surge between 3 and 7 feet.

On the other side of the bridge heading inland, the FOX Weather crew reported several 18-wheeler tractor-trailers flipped over. In Freeport, one tractor-trailer was flipped on its side next to a Buc-ee’s. 

HOUSTON BATTERED BY BERYL’S DEADLY POWERFUL 80+ MPH WINDS, INTENSE RAINFALL: ‘HUNKER DOWN – AVOID ALL TRAVEL’

Within 20 minutes of the beach, most hotels and buildings suffered roof damage, and the power was out. On Monday, a wind gust of 94 mph was recorded in Freeport as Beryl moved inland toward Houston

While most people heard warnings from emergency managers and stayed home, some went out of their way to witness Beryl’s intensity on the coastline.

Houston Chronicle photographers spoke to a group from Las Vegas who traveled to Bay City to experience the hurricane. The group soon found themselves looking for shelter while facing 90 mph winds and piercing rain. 

About an hour from Matagorda, where Beryl made landfall, Rosenberg police faced rising floodwaters early Monday. The police department said several streets in the area were flooded and filled with debris. 

By mid-morning on Monday, the greater Houston area saw widespread damage from Beryl’s winds and 10 inches of rain. More than 900,000 of the more than 2.3 million Texas power outages were reported in Harris County, according to emergency managers.

“We’re going to have to start thinking about this power situation,” said Jeff Lindner, a Harris County Flood District meteorologist. “We’re going to be looking at days to weeks for full restoration. This isn’t going to be hours.”

HURRICANE BERYL MAKES LANDFALL IN TEXAS, CARRYING 90 MPH GUSTS AND LIFE-THREATENING STORM SURGE

Trees were down in League City, a suburb of Houston, causing damage. The city shared these images of trees and debris covering roads.

At least two people were killed in Harris County after Beryl’s winds knocked over trees in the area. 

One of those deaths was reported in Spring, Texas, outside of Houston, when a tree fell on a 74-year-old woman’s home, according to the Spring Fire Department.  

Officials across South and East Texas are asking people to stay home and off the roads while Beryl moves northeast across the Lone Star State. 

As Beryl continues northward, its impacts will be felt as far north as Michigan later this week. The National Hurricane Center’s current forecast cone shows the storm will weaken as it moves north but maintain tropical depression strength from Arkansas through Michigan throughout the week.