(Houston) After crossing the Caribbean, the hurricane Beryl hit Texas on Monday, with heavy rains killing at least one person in the southern United States.
“A tree fell on a house and a man was pinned under the debris,” Ed Gonzalez, the sheriff of Harris County in southern Texas, wrote on X.
Beryl has already caused at least eight deaths, including the seven deaths recorded in the Caribbean and Venezuela.
In Texas, more than 2 million homes were without power Monday morning, according to the website poweroutage.us, and residents were evacuated.
” We need to take Beryl “We are taking this very, very seriously,” Houston Mayor John Whitmire warned earlier. At the city’s main airport, more than 1,000 flights have been canceled, according to the website FlightAware, with the U.S. Hurricane Center (NHC) warning of tornadoes.
The city was then battered by heavy rain, accompanied by gusts of wind.
Beryl made landfall in the United States on Monday morning, and the hurricane “brought life-threatening storm surges and heavy rains. Damaging winds continue along the coast with significant gusts,” the NHC warned.
Several parts of Texas are under hurricane warning, Beryl having strengthened during the night from Sunday to Monday with winds of 130 km/h.
Berylnow classified as a category 1 hurricane, is less powerful than when it passed through the Antilles, where it had reached the highest category, 5, for a time.
PHOTO ADREES LATIF, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Resident Josh Greenlee watches the hurricane swells Beryl at dusk from his electric scooter in Surfside Beach, Texas.
But the danger remains.
The city of Galveston, southeast of Houston, has ordered a voluntary evacuation for some areas, with videos posted on social media showing lines of cars leaving the city.
Acting state Gov. Dan Patrick urged Texans to stay alert, listen to local authorities and leave the danger zone if possible.
Early weather phenomenon
“This storm will be deadly to people in its direct path,” Patrick said at a news conference hosted by state emergency services. “Believe me, you don’t want to be in a Category 1 hurricane,” he added.
The White House said Sunday it was monitoring the situation.
According to the NHC, Beryl is scheduled to move east to Texas on Monday, before continuing on to Mississippi and Ohio on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“We expect steady to rapid weakening as (Beryl) moves inland, and may become a tropical storm again later (Monday) and then a tropical depression on Tuesday,” the forecast service said.
It is extremely rare for a hurricane of this power to arrive this early in the season. Beryl is the earliest hurricane to hit Texas in a decade, according to hurricane expert Michael Lowry.
Scientists say climate change, by warming ocean waters, makes it more likely that storms will intensify rapidly and increases the risk of hurricanes.