July 8, 2024, Hurricane Beryl news

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Beryl brought more than 13 inches of rain to a few parts of the Houston area over the last 48 hours — a remarkable amount in such a short time for the area, which averages around 15 inches in the summertime (June, July and August).

Here are some notable 48-hour rainfall totals in the Houston area as of Monday night: 

Also, the 48-hour rainfall totals at two major Houston airports — the William P. Hobby Airport (5.59 inches) and the George Bush Intercontinental Airport (4.98 inches) — both exceeded the airports’ average July rainfall. 

Looking ahead: What is left of Beryl will move quickly to the northeast out of Texas and into Arkansas by early Tuesday. The storm will move into Indiana by Wednesday and into Canada by Thursday morning. 

Flood watches are in effect for more than 8 million people from eastern Texas to southern Illinois, and will largely expire on Tuesday. The heaviest rainfall through early Tuesday is expected for northeastern Texas, northwestern Louisiana, southeastern Oklahoma and much of Arkansas. Rainfall rates up to 3 inches per hour are possible. 

Rainfall totals of 3-5 inches (or more, in places) are expected across portions of far southeastern Oklahoma, Arkansas and southern Missouri through Tuesday. Generally, 2-4 inches of rain are expected across the rest of Missouri and into Illinois through Wednesday morning. Locally, considerable flash and urban flooding is possible.

Texas-based utility CenterPoint Energy said it expects to restore power for 1 million customers by the end of Wednesday.

More than 1.8 million CenterPoint customers were without power as of 9:46 p.m. CT Monday, about 17 hours after Beryl made landfall in Texas, according to the utility’s website.

Statewide, more than 2.4 million customers of multiple energy companies remained without power, according to PowerOutage.us.

Power to about 285,000 CenterPoint customers had been restored as of 8 p.m. CT, the utility said.

Three people have died in Texas’ Montgomery County as a result of Hurricane Beryl, county officials said.

That raises Beryl’s US death toll to at least eight.

A man in his 40s was in a tractor when a tree fell and struck him in the eastern part of the county. The other two killed were a man and a woman who “were discovered in a tent in a wooded area in Magnolia,” county officials said Monday.

Further details about the deaths were not available.

Beryl has also killed four in Texas’ Harris County, including two in Houston; and one in Louisiana.

The storm also killed at least nine other people as it barreled through the Caribbean and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula last week.

This post has been updated with additional information.

Wildlife Center of Texas specialists worked to rescue the birds on Monday.

Many egrets were “seriously impacted” by Hurricane Beryl in northwestern Houston, including hundreds that fell out of nests and drowned, and hundreds more in need of rescue, an animal cruelty prevention society said.

Specialists with the Wildlife Center of Texas, a subsidiary of the Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, were on the scene “to rescue the injured and orphaned egrets that have survived,” the society said Monday.

The society had already been caring for nearly 1,000 animals ahead of the storm.

Hundreds of egrets were seriously affected by Hurricane Beryl when it ripped through a northwestern Houston neighborhood near the city of Cypress.

The surviving birds will be transported to the Wildlife Center of Texas campus for medical care.

President Joe Biden has called Houston Mayor John Whitmire to express condolences for the deaths caused by Hurricane Beryl.

He reassured the mayor that “Texans have the resources they need to get through the storm now, and to recover going forward,” according to the White House.

The US Coast Guard and FEMA are on the ground to support local response efforts, the White House said.

It could take up to two weeks for power to be fully restored in the coastal Texas city of Galveston, the city said Monday evening.

The CenterPoint Energy utility is “working diligently and around the clock to fix lines and restore power,” the post reads.

Galveston is an island city situated along Texas’ Gulf Coast.

Beryl produced wind gusts up to 78 mph, 4 inches of rain and high tides in the area, the post reads.

The US Coast Guard released aerial images after it assessed the damage that coastal areas in Texas suffered from Beryl on Monday.

Here’s what it looks like:

Surfside, Texas

Flooded boat storage in Sargent, Texas.

The Coast Guard assessed damage from Beryl during flight from Corpus Christi to Galveston.

Flooding near Galveston, Texas.

Storm damage seen in Timpson, Texas on Monday, July 8.

The East Texas town of Timpson has been left without electricity after a tornado tore through the middle of the town Monday afternoon, according to local officials. 

The outage affects Timpson’s population of around 1,200 residents.

The tornado, high winds and rain left vehicles hanging on power lines, according to Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Precinct 5 Constable Josh Tipton. 

Mayor pro tem Charleston Johnson says he was in his restaurant when the tornado hit the town. 

One person in Louisiana has died after a tree fell on her home in Bossier Parish, the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post, adding that they received numerous reports of storm damage Monday afternoon.

The sheriff’s office received numerous reports of storm damage Monday afternoon, the post says.

This is the fifth reported death in the US due to Beryl. Four deaths have also been reported in Texas.

Bossier Parish is located around 270 miles northeast of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, close to the state’s border with Texas.

Beryl has weakened to a tropical depression with 35 mph sustained winds, according to the 8 p.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center (NHC)

All tropical storm and storm surge warnings have been discontinued, however, “Beryl continues to produce flooding rains and the risk of tornadoes across portions of eastern Texas, western Louisiana, and Arkansas,” the NHC said.

Hurricane Beryl has killed at least four people in Texas, officials said.

Two people died in Houston, according to John Whitmire, the city’s mayor.

“Lost someone to fire in southeast Houston due to lightning, we believe it’s storm-related,” he said at a news conference Monday.

Whitmire added another person who worked for the Houston Police Department was also killed.

The other two people killed were in Harris County, according to local officials. One was a 74-year-old woman, the constable in Harris County’s Precinct 4 said in a Facebook post. She was killed when a tree fell on her house, the constable said.

The other fatality attributed to the storm in Harris County also happened when a tree fell on the home of a 53-year-old man, according to the sheriff’s office.

Fallen power lines seen pm Galveston Island as a result of Hurricane Beryl on Monday, July 8.

The chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas said it will take several days to restore power to the millions of people across the state who are in the dark Monday night.

Thomas Gleeson said at a news conference that officials and utility companies are in the “assessment phase” after Beryl hit the southern part of the state with rain and high winds.

This means the companies will go out and look at the damage to decide when it is safe enough for crews to go out to start restoring power.

“This will be a multi-day restoration effort,” Gleeson said at a news conference.

He asked for people to be patient and not to approach any downed power lines.

“It’s going to take a few days for this to get restored,” he said.

Whitmire speaks during a press conference on Monday, July 8

The mayor of Houston, Texas, said he does not have power — like millions of others across the state — after Beryl plowed through the area on Monday.

“I know what it’s like,” mayor John Whitmire said.

Houston will swelter through a heat index of 105 degrees Tuesday and Wednesday, creating dangerous conditions for those without power.

Whitmire said Texas energy company, CenterPoint Energy, brought in additional personnel and is “fully aware” of how much of an essential service getting the power back on is.

Other essential services, like wastewater and hospital systems, are also being monitored, Whitmire said.

At least three people died Monday as Beryl moved through the city of Houston, Texas, Mayor John Whitmire said.

One person died due to a tree falling and another person died in a fire by storm-related lightning, Whitmire said.

The Houston Police Department also lost a civilian employee who was trying to commute to work when his car became submerged in flood conditions, the mayor said.

A tornado “seriously damaged or destroyed” between 30 to 40 homes after touching down in Jasper, a Texas city approximately 70 miles north of Beaumont, according to Jasper County Judge Mark Allen. 

The tornado hit an apartment complex and nursing home facility alongside homes in the western side of the city, as well as other buildings across Jasper County. It touched down around 12 p.m. ET. 

There were two minor injuries reported and no fatalities, according to Allen. 

Tropical Storm Beryl brought high winds and rain to Jasper as well, causing “massive power outages” with several thousands of customers continuing to be without power in the city, said Allen. 

“Multiple searches underway in the Shady Acres and Rosewood Subdivisions on the west side of Jasper. Extensive wind/tornado damage. Multiple houses with trees on them,” said a post from the Beech Grove Volunteer Fire Department’s Facebook page.

The city is working to set up a shelter at the local church for those displaced by the storm. 

Houston, Texas, residents should stay on alert even after the worst of Beryl passed through the city, the mayor said on Monday afternoon.

He said the city was pounded with high winds and saw 10 to 15 inches of rain in some places. He said traffic lights are out and some freeways are also closed.

Tropical Storm Beryl is gradually losing its strength, but it continues to unload gusty winds and flooding rainfall over eastern Texas.

“Do not become complacent, that’s my message this afternoon,” Whitmire said.

At least two people have died when trees fell on homes in the Houston area — a 53-year-old man and a 74-year-old woman, according to local authorities. 

A new tornado watch has been issued for much of southern and central Arkansas, including Little Rock, until midnight CT, according to the National Hurricane Center. 

The tornado threat for Arkansas will increase this evening as Tropical Storm Beryl continues to move northward. The outer bands of tropical systems often produce brief tornadoes.  

Beryl has already produced numerous tornadoes across eastern Texas and western Louisiana this afternoon and the threat continues in these states this evening. The Texas towns of Jasper and Timpson have both been hit by tornadoes today.

Texas energy company, CenterPoint Energy, said that after completing a damage assessment, it will start providing “estimates for substantial restoration of the system” after millions of customers were left without power following Hurricane Beryl.

The company said Beryl’s path shifted and had more impact on its infrastructure than expected.  

The company said it is mobilizing “thousands” of frontline resources to begin the restoration process. CenterPoint also acknowledged the ongoing heat forecast for the region and the importance of restoring power.  

“We understand how difficult it is to be without power for any amount of time, especially in the heat. We are laser focused on the important and time-sensitive work that lies ahead,” said Lynnae Wilson, CenterPoint’s senior vice president of electric business.

The sustained winds associated with Tropical Storm Beryl continue to decrease and are now 45 mph, according to the 5 p.m. EST update from the National Hurricane Center.

Despite the decreasing winds, Beryl continues to produce flooding and the threat of tornadoes, especially on the eastern side of the storm near the Texas-Louisiana border.

Beryl’s center is now about 110 miles north of Houston or 80 miles south-southeast of Tyler, Texas.

The storm will move across the Lower Mississippi Valley and into the Ohio Valley over the next 48 hours, potentially bringing 3 to 5 inches of rainfall. This rainfall is expected to cause urban and flash flooding.