Hurricane Beryl was downgraded on Monday evening to a tropical depression after a Category 1 hurricane slammed the southern U.S. state of Texas. The storm left at least four people dead and caused millions to lose power amid scorching summer heat.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported that Beryl made landfall Monday morning near the Gulf Coast town of Matagorda. Although Beryl was losing strength as it moved inland, it continued to bring flood-producing rains and strong winds.
\"Considerable flash and urban flooding as well as minor to isolated major river flooding is expected,\" the NHC stated in its latest advisory. The agency also warned that \"several tornadoes are possible through tonight across parts of east Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas.\"
The sprawling city of Houston, home to 2.3 million people, suffered significant damage early Monday from hurricane-strength winds and flooding. Authorities confirmed at least four deaths related to the storm.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez announced on social media that a 53-year-old man and a 74-year-old woman died in separate incidents where trees fell on their homes. Later, Houston Mayor John Whitmire held a press conference revealing that one person died after a lightning strike possibly ignited a fire, while a police department employee perished in floodwaters while on his way to work.
As of Monday evening, approximately 2.6 million households in Texas were without electricity, according to the PowerOutage.us tracker. Temperatures were forecast to climb above 32 degrees Celsius over the next few days.
Along the Texas coastline, numerous waterfront homes and buildings were observed with their roofs torn off by strong winds. Several communities in the area had issued voluntary or mandatory evacuation orders in anticipation of the storm.
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Beryl downgraded after slamming Texas with deadly rains, wind
cgtn.com
