Hurricane Beryl Claims 7 Lives, Leaves Millions Without Power

News Desk

Islamabad: At least seven people have died after Hurricane Beryl struck southeast Texas and Louisiana, leaving nearly three million people without power. 

Beryl hit the southern United States on Monday morning as a category one hurricane but was downgraded to a tropical depression.

Officials warned of destructive winds, up to 15 inches (38 cm) of rain, and “life-threatening” storm surges.

More than 1,100 flights were cancelled at Houston’s main airport on Monday, according to FlightAware. As of Monday night, 2.6 million customers in Texas were without power, with some outages also reported in Louisiana.

The storm caused at least 10 deaths in the Caribbean. Seven people died in Texas’s Harris and Montgomery counties, with one more fatality in neighboring Louisiana.

A 53-year-old man died after winds downed power lines and a tree fell on his home in Harris County, causing the roof to collapse.

In the same county, 73-year-old Maria Loredo was killed when a tree crashed through the roof of her home. Loredo’s family reported that she was home with her son, his wife, and her two grandchildren when the tree fell; no other family members were injured.

Also in Harris County, a Houston Police Department employee, Russell Richardson, 54, drowned while attempting to drive through high water on his way to work.

Another person died in a house fire believed to have been sparked by lightning, according to Houston’s mayor.

Three people were also killed in Montgomery County: one man was killed when a tree fell on him while he was driving a tractor, and two homeless people died when a tree fell on their tent.

Houston, a low-lying coastal city, is particularly prone to flooding. Sustained wind speeds in the area reached 75 mph (120 km/h) with gusts up to 87 mph as the storm struck.

Beryl was expected to continue losing strength as it moved north-northeast, but flash flooding and heavy rain remained risks.

In Louisiana, where over 30,000 people were without power on Monday night, one person was killed when a tree fell on her home in Benton.

The National Weather Service (NWS) warned that Beryl could spawn tornadoes in Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas on Monday night, with the risk shifting to Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio on Tuesday.

The ports of Corpus Christi, Houston, Galveston, Freeport, and Texas City were closed. More than 2,500 emergency responders, including members of the Texas National Guard, were prepared to deal with Beryl’s aftermath.

Beryl was expected to move east across America’s central states, including Mississippi, later in the week, bypassing central and west Texas, areas currently experiencing moderate to severe drought.

At one point, Beryl became the earliest category five hurricane ever recorded. In the Caribbean, it severely impacted St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Mayreau and Union, and Grenada, and was one of the most powerful storms to hit Jamaica. Beryl also brought heavy rain to the tourist hotspots of Cancún and Tulum in southern Mexico.

While attributing specific storms to climate change is complex, exceptionally high sea surface temperatures are considered a key factor in Hurricane Beryl’s intensity.

It is the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season, with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warning that the North Atlantic could see as many as seven major hurricanes this year, up from an average of three per season.