Editor's note: This page reflects news from Beryl as of Tuesday, July 9.
Possible tornadoes were expected across the central United States Tuesday night as scorching temperatures and winds from Hurricane Beryl cut off the path of the Southeast, triggering heat warnings that left millions without power in Texas.
Beryl, the earliest Category 5 hurricane ever recorded, weakened to a tropical storm after making landfall on the Texas coast as a Category 1 hurricane early Monday, turning streets into rivers, leaving people trapped in their cars and more than Two million people were without power. The storm has killed at least eight people in Texas and Louisiana.
According to the National Hurricane Center, Beryl, now a tropical depression, is expected to weaken as it moves further inland, but it is still powerful enough to drop several inches of rain in several states and is moving toward the Northeast Creates a tornado when moving. The National Weather Service said more than 21 million people were under flood watches from Arkansas to Maine on Tuesday.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick warned that while Beryl has moved out of the state, dangerous flooding could continue for days.
Deadly storms swept through Jamaica, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines last week. At least 11 people died in Mexico and the Caribbean before Beryl arrived in Texas.
See the outage map:Beryl sends millions without power to Mississippi
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∎ Tropical Storm Beryl caused one death, “significant damage to homes and businesses, and widespread power outages,” Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry's office said Tuesday before declaring the state a state of emergency. state of emergency.
∎ Texas oil and gas companies that had been shut down in anticipation of Beryl's arrival began resuming operations on Tuesday, despite damage to some of their facilities and power outages in some areas.
∎ On Tuesday, Houston city officials asked people to “avoid all nonessential travel” to clear the way for authorities to clear debris and restore power.
∎ Texas Emergency Management Director Nim Kidd said more than 2,500 first responders were deployed across the state to assist with recovery efforts. In Harris County, which includes Houston, the Sheriff's Office high water rescue teams continued to respond to incidents across the city Tuesday.
∎ Patrick said Tuesday that President Joe Biden has approved his request for a federal emergency disaster declaration, which will help pay for recovery costs. Biden also told Houston Mayor John Whitmire that his administration “will make sure Texans have the resources they need now to weather this storm and get back on track moving forward.”
Tornadoes sweep through Ohio Valley
The National Weather Service office in Paducah, Ky., confirmed two tornadoes as weakened Beryl continued to create hazards in their paths.
The National Hurricane Center warned that multiple tornadoes were possible Tuesday night in the Ohio Valley, including parts of Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Tennessee. More than an hour later, that became reality, as the Paducah office confirmed that a “large and extremely dangerous tornado” had occurred near Owensville, Indiana (about 25 miles north of Evansville).
About 10 minutes later, the same office reported that a second tornado formed near Poseyville, Indiana, also close to Evansville.
In Mount Vernon, Indiana, crews assess the damage from an accident. A tornado ripped through the town on Tuesday, displacing more than a dozen families. Blacktown Fire Chief Jay Price said there were no reports of injuries as of Tuesday evening.
The storm overturned train cars, caused multiple gas leaks, snapped utility poles and damaged a warehouse. Videos posted on social media from the other Indiana towns of Johnson and Poseyville showed the devastating aftermath of the storm, with trees snapped and some homes reduced to rubble.
Beryl issued a record 113 tornado warnings on Monday, according to research from Iowa State University.
Beryl power outage causes dangerous heat in East Texas
In the wake of Hurricane Beryl, another type of dangerous weather is hitting parts of Texas, knocking out power to more than 2 million homes and businesses: heat and humidity.
In Houston, where temperatures hit 95 degrees on Tuesday, resident Raymond Miller had a rough night when his power went out at 6 a.m. Monday.
“It was hot, I couldn't sleep, and the humidity in the apartment made it hard to breathe,” said Miller, 46, a higher education worker.
Miller's plan for relief for himself and his dog was to put them in a car with air conditioning on, but with only a quarter of a tank of gas left, it was difficult to escape the heat for long.
“There's no gas available. Everybody's out of gas,” he said. “At this point, everything has come to a head.”
Extreme heat is the deadliest form of extreme weather. A relentless heatwave is sweeping the West Coast this week, with temperatures soaring into triple digits and suspected to have killed eight people. The National Weather Service said it expects more record high temperatures to hit the West Coast in the coming days, with temperatures in some areas reaching 30 degrees above average.
The hot weather in the western region this week will Entering the North Central and Southeastern United States Sunday and early next week, according to the weather service.
“Persistent and record-breaking high temperatures are extremely dangerous for those without access to cooling,” The meteorological department issued a warning.
Storm causes 154,000 gallons of wastewater to leak in Houston
Beryl's strong winds, abundant rainfall and resulting power outages caused at least 154,000 gallons of wastewater to leak in the central part of the city, According to Houston Public Works.
The agency said those who get water from the city “will not be affected by the leak and do not need to boil their water.” However, officials recommend residents in affected areas who rely on private drinking water supply wells to boil their water for at least one minute, including for cooking and bathing. of water.
In mid-May, Houston again experienced a leak of more than 100,000 gallons of wastewater. The storm brought high winds and heavy rains that killed eight people in the area, flooded streets, and left about 1 million customers without power.
Beryl's path from Arkansas to Maine
Beryl is expected to inundate large areas of the central and eastern United States as it unleashes thunderstorms capable of producing tornadoes from the Low Plains to the Northeast.
The storm is expected to move across Arkansas and into the lower Ohio Valley Tuesday night, potentially threatening the area with tornadoes, According to the National Weather Service. AccuWeather senior meteorologist Bill Deger said the heaviest rainfall will follow Beryl's path through Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana into Tuesday night, with up to 8 inches of rain falling.
“Because the storm is moving quickly, this rain could fall in just a few hours, causing reduced visibility for motorists and flash flooding on highways and poorly drained areas,” he said.
On Wednesday, the storm was expected to bring “prolific heavy rainfall” and tornado threats to the lower Great Lakes and Northeast, including parts of upstate New York, northern Pennsylvania and southern Maine. According to AccuWeather, heavy downpours are expected along the mid-Atlantic coast and then spread into New England by midweek.
Even after the beryl dissipates, lingering moisture in the Northeast will continue to fuel storms Thursday through Friday and into Saturday, AccuWeather said, adding that up to a foot of rain could fall in parts of the East.
Summer baking:Temperatures hit record highs from Portland to Phoenix as the heat wave continues. Is the end in sight?
Electric crews working to restore service after Beryl incident
Texas and local officials warned it could take days to restore power after Berrill knocked out power to millions of homes and businesses.
As of Tuesday afternoon, nearly 1.6 million customers in the Houston area were without power. CenterPoint Energy reported that power was restored to about 825,000 households in the past 24 hours. According to PowerOutage.us, more than 2 million homes and businesses were without power in Texas, while approximately 10,000 homes and businesses were without power in Louisiana.
CenterPoint Energy said in a statement on X that it expected power to be restored to 1 million customers by Wednesday night. The company, which provides services in Houston and surrounding areas, said nearly 12,000 on-site resources are assisting with response efforts.
At its peak, more than 2.2 million CenterPoint Energy customers were without power Monday. Power had been restored to 285,000 customers as of 8 p.m., the company said in a statement.
“While we have closely tracked Hurricane Beryl's expected path, intensity and timing for several days, this storm demonstrated the unpredictability of hurricanes as it struck a powerful blow across our service area and affected many human lives,” said Senior Vice President Lynnae Wilson. President, Center Point Energy Corporation.
Death toll climbs after beryl strikes eastern Texas, Louisiana
Several people died in eastern Texas and one person died in a storm-related incident in Louisiana, officials said.
Whitmire said a civilian employee of the Houston Police Department drowned when floodwaters struck him while driving to work. In southeast Houston, a man was killed in a fire believed to have been started when Beryl struck the city.
A 53-year-old man and a 74-year-old woman died Monday when trees fell on their homes, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.
A man operating a tractor was killed when a tree fell on him, according to Montgomery County Emergency Management. In addition, the bodies of two people were found in a tent in a forest area in Montgomery County, north of Houston. No further details are available at this time.
In northwest Louisiana, a woman died when a tree fell on her home, according to a statement from the Bossier Parish Sheriff's Office.
Hundreds of egrets killed and hundreds rescued during Beryl
Hundreds of egrets were ejected from their nests and drowned as Hurricane Beryl slammed into southeast Texas on Monday. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said in a statement.
The nonprofit said experts from its Texas Wildlife Center are on the scene in Cypress, a city northwest of Houston, rescuing injured and surviving orphaned egrets.
Experts expect to bring about 300 birds back to campus for sorting and medical care, the statement said.
The egret is an all-white wading bird that makes its home in wetlands across the United States. They can be seen year-round in Texas and the Gulf Coast states, according to the Houston Audubon Society.
Contributors: Doyle Rice, USA Today; Ryan Reynolds, Jon Webb, Houston Harwood and Sarah Loesch, Evansville Courier & Press; Reuters
