US Weather Agency Warns Texans to Complete Preparations Before Storm Hits State

This image provided by NASA shows Hurricane Beryl from the International Space Station on July 1, 2024. (The Canadian Press/AP-HO, NASA)

Tropical Storm Beryl is forecast to re-strengthen into a hurricane before it plows into Southern Texas early on the morning of July 8, while forecasters say that the storm will affect states as far north as Michigan and Ohio later in the week.

The system was about 130 miles south-southeast of Matagorda and 135 miles east-southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, as of 5 p.m. EDT, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in an update on July 7.

“Continued strengthening is expected overnight before Beryl reaches the Texas coast” as a hurricane, the NHC warned. “Preparations should be rushed to completion in Texas” before the storm makes landfall, it also warned.

Hurricane and tropical storm warnings were in effect for the entire southern Texas coastline until the Louisiana border. A hurricane warning is in effect from Baffin Bay northward to San Luis Pass, while a tropical storm warning was in effect along the Texas coast south of Baffin Bay to the mouth of the Rio Grande as well as the Texas coast north of San Luis Pass to Sabine Pass.

The Mexican government has discontinued a tropical storm warning for the northeastern coast of mainland Mexico from Barra el Mezquital to the mouth of the Rio Grande.

A storm surge watch has also been discontinued for the stretch of Texas coastline from North of Baffin Bay, Texas to North Entrance of the Padre Island National Seashore. However, a storm surge warning remains in effect for the rest of the Texas gulf coast from Corpus Christi to the Louisiana state line.

As of 5 p.m. ET, peak storm surge forecasted for Corpus Christi and the surrounding area is two to four feet. Galveston Bay could see four to six feet, and four to seven feet is forecasted between Port O'Connor and Matagorda Bay and San Luis Pass.

Beryl’s center, which is currently moving at 12 mph to the north-northwest, will turn northward on July 8, according to the NHC.

“We’re seeing the outer bands of Beryl approach the Texas coast now and the weather should be going downhill, especially this afternoon and evening,” Eric Blake, a senior hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center, said on July 7. “People should definitely be in their safe space by nightfall and we’re expecting the hurricane to make landfall somewhere in the middle Texas coast overnight.”

The White House said on July 7 that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had sent emergency responders, search-and-rescue teams, bottled water, and other resources to along the coast.

Acting Texas Gov. Dan Patrick late last week added 81 new Texas counties, including Dallas County, to a previously issued Beryl disaster declaration that encompassed about 40 counties. Mr. Patrick, the Texas lieutenant governor, is acting governor while Texas Gov. Greg Abbott remains overseas for a trip to Asia until July 13.

What Comes Next

The storm is forecast to make landfall along the “middle Texas coast” by early July 8 before it makes a “turn northeastward and move farther inland over eastern Texas and Arkansas late Monday [July 8] and Tuesday [July 9].” As it moves inward, it is expected to weaken into a tropical storm before turning into a tropical depression.

The NHC’s forecasting model suggests that starting around July 10, the depression will be over Illinois before passing Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan.

Federal forecasters say that several inches of rain may be possible over areas where the storm’s remnants pass, leading to flash flooding concerns.

The highest amount of rain will “focus over northwest Arkansas to central Illinois with the highest over the Ozarks. Areal averages are expected to be around 2 to 5 inches with local maximums upwards of 8 inches,” the U.S. Weather Prediction Center wrote on July 7.

Storm History

Beryl formed in the Atlantic Ocean on June 29, becoming the 2024 Atlantic season’s first hurricane. The storm broke several records as it strengthened into a Category 5 storm with 160-mph winds last week.

Beryl caused at least 11 deaths as it passed through the Caribbean as it makes its way to Texas. Before hitting Mexico, Beryl wrought destruction in Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Barbados. Three people were reported dead in Grenada, three in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, three in Venezuela, and two in Jamaica, officials and local media reported.

The storm also ripped off doors, windows, and roofs with devastating winds and storm surge fueled by warm Atlantic Ocean waters.

Beryl earlier this week battered Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane, toppling trees but causing no injuries or deaths before weakening to a tropical storm as it moved across the Yucatan Peninsula.

T.J. Muscaro and the Associated Press contributed to this report.