8 dead, 2.5 million without power as Hurricane Beryl slams into Texas, Louisiana

By Clyde Hughes, Allen Cone, and Darryl Coote
8 July 2024

(UPI) – At least eight people were killed after Hurricane Beryl slammed southeast Texas with heavy winds, rain and flash flooding Monday. More than 2.5 million were still without power late Monday.

The death toll included seven people killed in Texas and one in Louisiana.

Beryl made landfall at 4:30 a.m. as a Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph near Matagorda. It is the first storm in the Atlantic hurricane season to make landfall in the United States.

After coming ashore, the hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm as it passed through the Houston area, about 94 miles from Matagorda, with sustained winds of 60 mph. On Monday night, the sustained winds dropped to 45 mph.

Matagorda appeared to withstand major long-term damage as the rain and winds began to subside during the day.

Strong winds recorded include 94 mph in Freeport, 85 mph at Brazoria County Airport and, at Hobby International Airport, 76 mph. Houston’s George Bush International Airport recorded wind speeds of 67 mph.

In Texas’ Montgomery County, three people died within an hour span midday, according to local judge Mark Keough’s office, KOU11 reported.

The victims were identified as a man in his 40s, and a man and a woman who appeared to be homeless. All were killed by fallen trees.

In Harris County, two people died.

A 74-year old woman was killed when a tree fell on her house, according a statement from Harris County Constable Precinct 4.

And a 53-year-old man died after becoming trapped under debris when a tree fell on his house, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.

“The man (53) was reportedly sitting in his house with family, riding out the storm. An oak tree fell on roof and hit rafters, structure fell on the male. Wife and children unharmed,” he said on X.

Two others also died in Houston. One was from fire that Mayor John Whitmire said is believed to be storm-related. The other fatality was a civilian worker for the Houston Police Department, he said.

Russell Richardson, 54, drowned in his vehicle while driving it work when hit by flooding while under an underpass.

“I’ve been there all afternoon watching his colleagues retrieve his body from his submerged car. Horrible situation,” he told reporters during a Monday night press conference.

In Louisiana, a woman died when a tree fell on her home in Bossier Parish near the Texas border, the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post.

Nine others died after the storm hammered the Caribbean islands and Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula last week.

Whitmire, calling the situation “an emergency,” said during a morning briefing residents should shelter in place because of winds, rain and flooding.

“Don’t let the clear skies fool you. We still have dangerous circumstances, we still have high water across our city,” Whitmire said during an afternoon conference.

Widespread rainfall amounts of 4 to 8 inches have fallen there since Sunday night, with much of the rain falling since daybreak on Monday.

Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport picked up more than 4.5 inches of rain since midnight, according to National Weather Service data. Normally, it records 3.77 inches for the entire month of July. [more]

8 dead, 2.5M without power as Beryl slams Texas, Louisiana