Hurricane Beryl brought strong winds, heavy rainfall and widespread flooding to Galveston, Texas, on Monday after making landfall as a Category 1 hurricane.
SURFSIDE BEACH, Texas – Hurricane Beryl slammed into the Texas coast Monday morning, unleashing hurricane-force winds, widespread power outages and flash flooding.
The storm roared ashore, making landfall near Matagorda at 3:50 a.m. CT as a Category 1 hurricane with gusts over 80 mph. Over 2.5 million electrical customers in Texas have already lost power, according to PowerOutage.us.
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Hurricane Beryl made landfall near Matagorda on the Texas Gulf Coast early Monday morning, the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm first unleashed its fury on Surfside Beach, as FOX Weather crews captured the winds whipping through trees, even breaking off part of a palm tree.
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A video recorded in Surfside Beach, Texas, shows powerful winds from Hurricane Beryl snapping a palm tree on Monday, July 8, 2024.
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The storm’s winds have also created a life-threatening storm surge that is inundating coastal communities, and it will only get worse just before 8 a.m. as high tide approaches. Houston will face dangerous weather conditions through the morning as the storm’s center moves inland.
Hurricane Beryl caused significant damage in Clute, Texas, including downed power lines, overturned 18-wheelers, damaged homes and businesses, flooded roads and extensive tree damage when it made landfall near Matagorda.
Peak storm surge could reach up to 7 feet as the tide rises in the mid-morning, and areas such as Galveston Bay could see levels nearing 6 feet as water accumulates in the bay, the National Hurricane Center warns.
As the powerful storm surge began to sweep into Surfside Beach with force, FOX Weather crews found themselves in a precarious situation and had to quickly retreat to higher ground to ensure their safety.
The Surfside Beach Fire Department escorts FOX Weather to safety after storm surge flooding from Hurricane Beryl begins to rush inland on Monday, July 8, 2024.
Unlike other coastal regions, the Texas coastline experiences longer high tides, the FOX Forecast Center said. This, combined with the extended duration of onshore wind, could keep water levels high for a couple of days.
Numerous wind gusts topping 80 mph will also continue through the midday hours.
The force of Hurricane Beryl was seen in Surfside Beach, Texas, early Monday morning as the storm unleashed powerful winds and torrents of heavy rain in the area.
“It feels like the entire backs of my legs are on fire because it stings,” FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin said as she reported live from Surfside Beach, early Monday morning. “The raindrops almost turn into a needle head. Almost like, as if you were getting a tattoo. Like, it’s that kind of feel of that persistent needle pressure against your skin.”
Houston will not escape the damaging wind threat either. The core of Beryl has already brushed the metro with 60-plus mph wind gusts.
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The National Weather Service office in Houston posted video showing strong winds from Hurricane Beryl blasting the region as the powerful storm moves closer to landfall along the Texas coast on Monday, July 8, 2024.
Beryl formed on June 29 and became the season’s first hurricane. After it rapidly intensified across the Atlantic and into the Caribbean, the storm broke multiple records throughout its trek. The storm has killed at least 10 people as it made its journey across the Caribbean.