At least 3 people killed after Beryl makes landfall on Texas coast

CenterPoint Energy, Houston's primary electricity provider, said it hopes to have power restored to 1 million customers who experienced storm-related outages by the end of the day Wednesday.

The company has so far restored power to more than 425,000 customers in the region, with 1,839,216 still in the dark late Monday, it said by email.

The total number of customers without power at the peak of the storm-related outage was 2.265 million, CenterPoint said in statement late tonight.

Its efforts have been bolstered by about 10,000 workers from outside the company, along with its own force of 1,500 deployed today to restore electricity and reroute power around damaged lines and facilities, according to its statements throughout the day.

CenterPoint said it trucked portable generators to locations with critical need, including a medical facility and an emergency response operation.

Even as it weakened today to a tropical depression, the remnants of Hurricane Beryl are potent enough to bring as much as 5 inches of rain to Oklahoma, Arkansas and southern Missouri tomorrow, forecasters said.

The storm will become disorganized on its path north-northeast into the American interior, the National Hurricane Center said in an evening bulletin.

But Beryl is potent enough to produce another 4 to 8 inches of rain, with 12 inches possible, overnight in parts of eastern Texas, the center said. Flash flooding was possible, and rivers could overflow, it said in an evening bulletin.

Unsettled air associated with the system could produce "several tornadoes" tonight in parts of east Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas, the center said. The tornado risk will move north-northeast with Beryl to southeast Missouri, northern Tennessee, Kentucky, southern Illinois, southern Indiana and Ohio tomorrow, it said.

The storm, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph, was about 30 miles east-southeast of Tyler, Texas, early this evening, according to the hurricane center.

It was headed out of Texas tonight at 16 mph and expected to move more directly toward the northeast faster tomorrow, forecasters said. As it continues to weaken, Beryl will be designated a post-tropical cyclone, they said.

Acting Houston Police Chief Larry J. Satterwhite identified the employee who died when his vehicle flooded in the storm as Russell Richardson, 54.

Mayor John Whitmire said at a news conference earlier today that the civilian worker had been called in as part of the "tier 1" group of employees asked to help with hurricane response efforts and got stuck in floodwaters while driving to his workplace.

First responders eventually pulled his body from a vehicle on Houston Avenue under Interstate 45, he said.

Richardson worked in the police department's office of technology services as an "information security officer," Satterwhite said on X today.

CenterPoint, Houston's primary electricity provider, said it was essentially all-hands-on-deck and then some in the effort to get nearly 3 million customers back online.

"An additional 10,000 resources from other utilities" were being welcomed to help with the restoration effort, it said in an afternoon statement.

CenterPoint has 1,500 "internal resources" on the job, as well, it said.

By late this afternoon, more than 2.5 million electricity customers remained without power after nearly 700,000 experienced the return of power, the utility said on its storm center update webpage.

CenterPoint did not offer a timeline for full restoration, and officials at a state news conference cautioned that some customers could be in the dark for days. "Customers in the hardest-hit areas may experience prolonged outages and should prepare accordingly," CenterPoint said.

At the state news conference, officials warned residents using mobile, fuel-powered generators to keep them outside at all costs to prevent deadly carbon monoxide from seeping indoors.

More than 4 inches of rain fell on parts of Lake Livingston, where construction crews have been racing to repair a dam that remains on “potential failure watch” after heavy rain in April and May. 

There is no immediate danger of a breach or failure of the dam, which is just north of Houston.

The dam is classified as a high-hazard dam in unsatisfactory condition, according to the National Inventory of Dams. Crews have been shoring up the structure since heavy rain caused erosion this spring.

Workers finished some emergency repairs yesterday in advance of the storm, said Vanessa Joseph, a spokesperson for the Trinity River Authority of Texas. 

“Those repairs are going to ensure the dam is ready for any potential rainfall due to Hurricane Beryl,” Joseph said. “In addition to that, if we receive other high flows related to it, the dam should perform as designed.”

A Houston Police Department civilian employee died in floodwaters driving into work after being called in to help staff emergency operations, Mayor John Whitmire said.

It was the third death blamed on Hurricane Beryl and its aftermath in Houston, Whitmire said at a news conference. The worker was part of a "tier 1" city response to the storm, he said.

The employee was not identified.

Whitmire said the vehicle stalled in floodwater on the Houston Avenue underpass at Interstate 45.

Tropical Storm Beryl is forecast to weaken to a tropical depression tonight or overnight, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Beryl is still producing flash flooding and strong winds over eastern Texas, including at least one tornado that touched down in Jasper.

The storm was 80 miles southeast of Tyler, Texas with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. It’s moving northeast at 16 mph.

"A turn toward the northeast with an increase in forward speed is expected tonight and Tuesday, the hurricane center said. "On the forecast track, the center of Beryl will move over eastern Texas today, then move through the Lower Mississippi Valley into the Ohio Valley on Tuesday and Wednesday."

Beryl is forecast to become a post-tropical cyclone tomorrow, the center said.

Most residents in Galveston Island are without power because of wind damage to power lines, according to the city of Galveston.

"The island experienced substantial wind damage in the form of downed power lines, transformers, trees and other debris," the city said today on Facebook.

The city is working with CenterPoint Energy to restore power to the island, but it is warning residents to "prepare for a possible multi-day power outage."

"The estimated timeline is anywhere from 72 hours to two weeks in parts of the island," the city said. "This is the only update we have currently as it relates to power outages."

Several health groups in Houston closed or announced shorter hours for their outpatient facilities because of Tropical Storm Beryl. Emergency departments will remain open.

Harris Health closed outpatient facilities and canceled elective procedures for today but will keep its emergency department open, it said in a statement. All of MD Anderson Cancer Center’s locations will be closed today to patients except those requiring urgent procedures, according to its website. 

Memorial Hermann Medical Group said in a statement that it has closed some facilities and rescheduled appointments. St. Luke’s Health said on Instagram that St. Luke’s Health–Brazosport Hospital sustained damage but that its patients and staff members are safe. It will continue providing emergency care.

Video posted on social media today shows an alligator swimming in floodwaters in a neighborhood in Missouri City, Texas.

The alligator could be seen swimming nearby in floodwaters that surrounded homes in the area and near where residents were trying to secure their boats from sailing away.

A tornado touched down in Jasper, Texas, this afternoon, according to city officials.

The tornado, which affected the western part of the city, caused damage to power lines and buildings.

"We have power outages all over town, and we don’t have an estimated time when they will be restored," the city of Jasper said on Facebook. "Watch out for down power lines; always treat a power line as if it’s live."

The city shared a video showing downed trees in the road and heavy rain.

A woman and her husband say they're lucky to have survived after a massive tree fell on their home last night in Wharton, Texas.

Sarah Glass said she was sheltering in the living room of the home with her husband when the lights went out. Glass went to the bedroom, and her husband went outside to check the generator.

Later, she heard a "big crash" as she was walking into the kitchen.

"The ceiling had fallen in, and the — you can see the tree branches and the studs and everything were broken and they’re all kind of spiky inside the house," Glass told NBC News.

Glass said that had the generator not stopped working, they would've stayed in the living room, which the tree hit.

"We probably would have been killed," she said.

Two people were killed today in Harris County, Texas, when trees fell on their homes, a 53-year-old man and a 74-year-old woman.

Beryl came ashore in Texas as a hurricane and dumped heavy rain along the coast Monday.

"Very hazardous" conditions, including life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds and heavy rain that can cause flooding, continue to affect eastern Texas, the National Hurricane Center said in an update this afternoon.

Beryl, which weakened from a Category 1 hurricane to a tropical storm after it made landfall on the Texas coast, is about 45 miles northwest of Houston. The storm has maximum sustained winds of 65 mph and is moving northeast at 13 mph, the hurricane center said.

When Beryl made landfall as a hurricane, it became the first hurricane to make landfall in Texas in July since Hanna in 2020 and only the 10th hurricane to make landfall in Texas in July since records began in 1851.

Beryl also made landfall the earliest in the calendar year in Texas since Bonnie landed on June 26, 1986.

This is Day 13 of tracking Beryl. It left Africa as an easterly wave on June 25 and became a named storm on June 29 and a hurricane on June 30.

The storm is leading to hundreds of canceled flights into and out of Texas on today, including about 529 out of Houston's George Bush International Airport — fully 80% of all flights originating there.

According to FlightAware data, an additional 125 have been canceled out of Houston's William P. Hobby Airport, or about 60% of its outbound flights.

Among airlines, United received the biggest impact, with 405 flights canceled, followed by Southwest at 270, Mesa with 198 and CommuteAir with 143.

Only about 51% of all scheduled U.S. flights were departing on time today, according to Anuvu, another flight tracking site.

A 74-year-old woman was killed this morning after a tree fell through the roof of her room in Harris County, Texas, according to the Harris County Constable's Office.

This is the second death reported in Harris County since Beryl made landfall in the state this morning as a Category 1 hurricane. The other fatality was a 53-year-old man who died after a tree fell on a house, officials said.

Beryl has claimed the lives of at least 11 people since last week, including nine across the Caribbean.

A tornado watch has been issued for parts of Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas until 10 p.m. CT, according to the National Weather Service.

Beryl has been downgraded to a tropical storm as it continues to move over eastern Texas, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The storm made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane on the Texas coast early this morning but has since weakened. Beryl continues to bring "life-threatening storm surge, damaging wind gusts, and flooding rainfall" to the southeast of the state, per the hurricane center.

Beryl is currently 20 miles west of Houston with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph with higher gusts. It's moving northeastward at 13 mph.

Beryl’s early arrival during hurricane season comes from record-warm water temperature in the tropical Atlantic, Brian McNoldy, a senior research associate at University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School, wrote in a blog post. 

Hurricane season in Texas runs from June through November, but most hurricane activity happens in August and September. When Beryl formed, the ocean was as warm as it usually is in mid-September.

The Atlantic will continue to see more extreme storms this season due to abnormally high water temperatures and the arrival of La Niña, the cooling phase of the El Niño that will enhance hurricane activity, McNoldy wrote.

The overall hurricane activity during a season is measured by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration using the Accumulated Cyclone Energy or ACE index, which accounts for the duration and intensity of storms by measuring wind energy. The ACE index for 2024 is already higher than any other recorded for this time of year, McNoldy wrote.

Over 2 million utility customers are without power in Texas as of 9 a.m. local time (10 a.m. ET), according to Poweroutage.us.

Outages are continuing to rise after Hurricane Beryl made landfall in the state hours ago.

A man died after a tree fell onto a house in Harris County, Texas, as Hurricane Beryl makes its way north through the state, officials said.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said on X that officers were called to Heath Grove Court in the Kings River neighborhood on the banks of Lake Houston.

"Preliminary info indicates one person has been confirmed deceased," he wrote.

Gonzalez said the unidentified man, aged 53, was "reportedly sitting in house with family, riding out the storm. An oak tree fell on [the] roof and hit [the] rafters, [and the] structure fell on the male."

His wife and children were unharmed, Gonzalez said.

There will be a tornado watch in place for southeast Texas, including Houston and Galveston, until 10 a.m. CT. The risk for tornadoes today will be highest this afternoon near the Texas / Louisiana border stretching up toward Little Rock.

A senior emergency response official has urged the people of Houston to stay home and not to travel through rising waters, as more than a million people are without power in and around the city.

"It is bad. We do have approximately 1 million customers without electricity in the Houston area. There's some street flooding, so the situation's gotten bad through the night as expected," Emergency management coordinator for Houston, Thomas Munoz told NBC News.

Munoz said high-water vehicles had been placed strategically throughout the city and that preparations had been ongoing for three or four days.

Asked for his message for people, Munoz said: "Definitely stay home, don't get on the roads."

Some 14 million people from the Texas coast to southern Illinois are under flood watches this morning as Beryl cuts its path through eastern Texas.

Rainfall rates of 3 inches per hour will likely cause significant flash flooding, especially in highly urbanized areas, including Houston.

As tropical moisture heads north through the week, the storm could produce 2 to 4 inches of rain and raise flood concerns for cities such as St. Louis, Chicago and Detroit.

Hurricane Beryl remains a Category 1 Hurricane with 75-mph winds three hours after making landfall on Texas' Gulf Coast. The center is 45 miles north-northeast of Matagorda and is moving north at 12 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in an 8 a.m. ET update.

At least 1.1 million customers have been affected by power outages in the U.S. as of 8:10 a.m. ET, according to CenterPoint Energy.

Outages have soared since Beryl made landfall in Texas a few hours ago.

As Beryl makes landfall in Texas, NBC News’ Savannah Sellers talks with Mitch Thames, a public information officer for Matagorda County, about the damage so far.

Hurricane Beryl has made landfall as a Category 1 storm on the Texas coast, slamming the state with heavy rain and winds. Flooding is a major concern as thousands are already without power. NBC’s Priscilla Thompson reports and the "TODAY" show's Dylan Dreyer tracks the latest forecast.

Beryl has knocked out power for at least 11,000 households in Matagorda County where it made landfall, Mitch Thames, a county spokesperson, told NBC News.

"We have a tremendous number of tree limbs and power lines down," Thames said.

While there were no reports of injuries, he said a number of vehicles have been flooded, which was expected along the coast with the high waves and storm surge.

"We're not done," he said. "If folks think we’re in the eye and the storm has passed ... it’s going to come back on the other side with strong winds, it will continue to rain."

A group of windsurfers took advantage of the high waves on the shores of Galveston Island in Texas yesterday, before Hurricane Beryl made landfall.

But a lifeguard ended their fun and told them to leave the waters.

More than 300,000 customers in Texas have been hit with power outages as of 6:10 a.m. ET, according to PowerOutage.us.

Most of the outages were along the Gulf Coast with the 46,000 residents out of power in the coastal county of Brazoria.

In May, deadly thunderstorms with hurricane-force winds knocked out electricity to almost half a million homes and businesses in Houston, as high-voltage transmission towers were torn apart and power lines were downed.

A "life-threatening" storm surge, strong winds and heavy rainfall are "battering" eastern Texas, the National Hurricane Center said in its 6 a.m. ET update.

Beryl was moving inland, the center said, accompanied by damaging winds hitting the coast.

The agency said a monitoring station in Freeport recorded gusts of up to 92 mph, with another station in San Bernard recording sustained winds of up to 52 mph.

The Texas Division of Emergency Management deployed 2,500 first responders and 1,200 vehicles and machinery ahead of Beryl's arrival.

This includes "swiftwater" boat squads; a public works response team; the Texas A&M Forest Service; the Texas National Guard, which has a Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters; Texas Highway Patrol troopers, who have helicopters with hoist capabilities, as well as teams from several other departments.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is on and with more than 100 staff prepared with 500,000 ready meals, 800,000 liters of water, 20,000 tarps, 2,500 rolls of plastic, and generators.

"Beryl is a resilient storm, and it poses a serious threat for Texans in its path at landfall and the following 24 hours as it moves through Texas," acting Gov. Dan Patrick said in a press conference yesterday.

Apartment windows are boarded up in Corpus Christi yesterday in preparation for Beryl's arrival.Local business owners remove hanging signs ahead of the hurricane's arrival in Galveston.

At least 102,000 customers in Texas were without power as of 5:20 a.m. ET, according to the power-tracking platform PowerOutage.us.

Some 12,000 of those were in Matagorda in southern Texas, where Beryl made landfall.

Hurricane Beryl has made landfall on the Gulf Coast of Texas, near Matagorda, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said today.

The hurricane was about 85 miles south-southwest of Houston, packing maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. That speed puts Beryl squarely within the bracket of a Category 1 storm.

A Category 1 hurricane is the lowest of the five categories, but it's a still a major event that will prompt a wide-scale emergency response.

The Saffir-Simpson scale is based on maximum sustained wind speed — Category 1 means the storm will have consistent winds of 74-95 mph.

This means very dangerous winds that will cause damage. Well-constructed frame homes will sustain damage to their roofs, while large tree branches will snap and shallow-rooted tree will be taken down.

Perhaps most significantly, it could mean extensive damage to power networks, which could take days to fix.

Beryl strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane last night, ahead of its anticipated arrival on the Texas coast, where it could bring a life-threatening storm surge and strong winds, U.S. forecasters said.

The storm’s maximum sustained winds increased to 75 mph late yesterday, upgrading it from its status as a tropical storm, according to the National Hurricane Center, citing National Weather Service radar and reports from an Air Force Reserve hurricane hunter aircraft.

Read the full story here

The effects of Hurricane Beryl are already being felt in Texas. Flash flooding, strong winds and a storm surge are expected for early today and beyond. The "Early TODAY" program’s Frances Rivera and NBC News meteorologist Angie Lassman look at what is already here and what is yet to come.