Tropical Storm Beryl on the verge of hurricane strength as it nears Texas
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Tropical Storm Beryl is expected to reach hurricane strength early Monday morning before making landfall in Texas, according to the National Hurricane Center, prompting officials to warn of potentially "deadly" conditions.
As of 11 p.m., Beryl had maximum sustained winds of 70 mph and was located about 100 miles east of Corpus Christi, Texas.
It is moving north-northwest at 10 mph.
"Beryl remains a strong tropical storm, even though it has been looking a lot more organized on satellite over the past several hours as it continues to move to the NNW around 10 mph," WFLA Meteorologist Eric Stone said. "It is still expected to make landfall as a category one hurricane early in the morning around Bay City, Texas bringing rain, wind and storm surge to the area. Rain bands have already been impacting southeast Texas including the Houston area as 6 to 8 inches of rain is expected to fall along Beryl's path."
Regardless of whether it impacts Texas as a tropical storm or a hurricane, Beryl is forecast to bring dangerous storm surge, flash flooding and strong winds. The storm is expected to dump 5 to 10 inches of rain across the Texas coast and the eastern part of the state.
In a news conference in Austin on Sunday, Texas officials urged residents to heed evacuation orders and to expect power outages as Beryl moves through the region. Over 100 counties are now included in the state's declared disaster area.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, acting in place of Gov. Greg Abbot, warned that as Beryl strengthens into a hurricane, it will be a "deadly storm” for those in its direct path. The National Hurricane Center forecast "life-threatening" storm surge in its Sunday evening update.
The following areas are expected to see storm surge levels of varying heights:
- Mesquite Bay, Texas to San Luis Pass, Texas — 4-6 feet
- Matagorda Bay — 4-6 feet
- San Luis Pass, Texas to High Island, Texas — 3-5 feet
- N Entrance Padre Island NS, Texas to Mesquite Bay, Texas — 3-5 feet
- Galveston Bay — 3-5 feet
Additional areas have been placed under hurricane warnings and watches.
The following areas are under a hurricane warning:
- The Texas coast from Mesquite Bay northward to Port Bolivar
The following areas are under a hurricane watch:
- The Texas coast north of San Luis Pass to Port Bolivar
The following areas are under a tropical storm warning:
- The Texas coast south of Mesquite Bay to Port Mansfield
- The Texas coast north of San Luis Pass to Sabine Pass
The following areas are under a storm surge warning:
- Mesquite Bay to Sabine Pass, including Matagorda Bay and Galveston Bay