National Hurricane Center Says Beryl's End Is Coming
Reporting by Josh Craddock
The National Hurricane Center said Hurricane Beryl continues to weaken tonight and is expected to become a “residual low” tomorrow.
It is said that this news will be the center's last public consultation on Beryl. Local National Weather Service offices will have the latest updates on the system's impacts.
The tropical depression is located 70 miles east-northeast of Tyler, Texas, moving north-northeast at 17 mph late tonight. The hurricane center said that although the hurricane dissipated and lost strength, it still had the potential to flood areas of eastern Texas, western Louisiana and Arkansas overnight.
“A few tornadoes” are also possible in these areas, the report said.
The National Weather Service defines a “residual depression” as a “post-tropical cyclone that no longer possesses the convective organization required for a tropical cyclone” with maximum sustained winds less than 39 mph.
Forecasters say the remainder of Beryl will produce sustained winds of about 35 mph tonight.
Utility company hopes to have 1 million Houston-area customers back online by Wednesday
Reporting by Amy Calvin
CenterPoint Energy, Houston's main electricity supplier, said it hoped to have power restored by the end of Wednesday to the 1 million customers who were without power due to the storm.
Power has been restored to more than 425,000 customers in the region so far, with 1,839,216 customers still in the dark late Monday, the company said via email.
CenterPoint said in a statement later tonight that at the peak of storm-related outages, the total number of customers without power was 2,265,000.
The company's efforts are supported by approximately 10,000 employees from outside the company, as well as a workforce of 1,500 deployed today to restore power and reroute damaged lines and facilities, according to company statements throughout the day.
CenterPoint said it has transported portable generators to locations with emergency needs, including medical facilities and emergency response agencies.
Beryl threatens Oklahoma, Arkansas and southern Missouri with heavy rain
Forecasters said that although it weakened to a tropical depression today, the remnants of Hurricane Beryl are strong enough to bring up to 5 inches of rain to Oklahoma, Arkansas and southern Missouri tomorrow.
The storm will become chaotic on a north-northeast path into the interior of the United States, the National Hurricane Center said in an evening advisory.
But the center said the beryl was powerful enough to dump an additional 4 to 8 inches of rain overnight in parts of eastern Texas, and possibly as much as 12 inches. The evening bulletin said flash flooding was possible and rivers could overflow.
The center said unstable air associated with the system could produce “a few tornadoes” tonight in parts of eastern Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. Tomorrow, tornado risk will move north-northeast, with Beryl moving into southeastern Missouri, northern Tennessee, Kentucky, southern Illinois, southern Indiana, and Ohio.
The storm was located about 30 miles east-southeast of Tyler, Texas earlier tonight, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph, according to the hurricane center.
Forecasters say it will depart Texas at 16 mph tonight and is expected to move faster directly northeastward tomorrow. As it continues to weaken, Beryl will be designated a post-tropical cyclone, they said.
Houston police employee killed in Beryl flooding identified
Houston Acting Police Chief Larry J. Satterwhite identified the employee who died when his vehicle was flooded during the storm as Russell Richardson, 54.
Mayor John Whitmire said at a press conference earlier today that the civilian employee was one of the “Tier 1” employees who were called in to help with the hurricane response but was trapped by floodwaters while driving to their job site. Living.
First responders eventually pulled his body from a car on Houston Avenue under Interstate 45, he said.
Satterwhite said today on X that Richardson works as an “information security officer” in the police department's Office of Technical Services.
Utilities get help from thousands of outside workers in efforts to restore power
Reporting by Amy Calvin, Donnie Noriega
CenterPoint, Houston's main electricity provider, said it's basically working flat out to get nearly 3 million customers back online.
In an afternoon statement, the company said it welcomed “an additional 10,000 resources from other utilities” to help with recovery efforts.
CenterPoint also said it has 1,500 “internal resources.”
The utility said on its storm center update page that as of late afternoon, more than 2.5 million customers were still without power after nearly 700,000 customers had their power restored.
CenterPoint did not provide a timetable for a full recovery, and officials warned at a state news conference that some customers could be left in the dark for days. “Customers in the hardest-hit areas may experience extended power outages and should prepare accordingly,” CenterPoint said.
At a state news conference, officials warned residents using mobile gas-fired generators to keep them outdoors at all costs to prevent deadly carbon monoxide from seeping indoors.
Workers complete emergency repairs to Lake Livingston Dam ahead of rain
More than 4 inches of rain fell in parts of Lake Livingston, and construction crews are racing to repair a dam that remains on “potential failure watch” after heavy rains in April and May.
The dam, located north of Houston, is not in immediate danger of failure or failure.
The dam is classified as a high-risk dam in poor condition according to the National Dam Inventory. Crews have been strengthening the structure since heavy rains this spring caused erosion.
Texas Trinity River Authority spokesperson Vanessa Joseph said workers completed some emergency repairs yesterday ahead of the storm.
“These repairs will ensure the dam is ready to handle the rainfall that Hurricane Beryl may bring,” Joseph said. “Beyond that, if we receive other high flows associated with it, the dam should be as designed run.”
Houston mayor says civilian police officer killed in floods
A civilian employee of the Houston Police Department died in flooding while driving to work after being called to help crews conduct emergency operations, Mayor John Whitmire said.
Whitmire told a news conference that this was the third death in Houston caused by Hurricane Beryl and its aftermath. He said the worker was part of the city's “Tier 1” response to the storm.
The employee has not been identified.
Whitmire said the vehicle broke down in flooding at the Interstate 45 Houston Avenue underpass.
Beryl is expected to weaken to a tropical depression
Tropical Storm Beryl is expected to weaken to a tropical depression tonight or overnight, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Berrill was still producing flash flooding and strong winds in East Texas, including at least one tornado that touched down in Jasper.
The storm occurred 80 miles southeast of Tyler, Texas, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. It is moving northeast at 16 miles per hour.
“A turn to the northeast with an increase in forward velocity is expected tonight and Tuesday,” the hurricane center said. “Center Beryl is forecast to move across eastern Texas today and then across the lower Mississippi River basin into Ohio on Tuesday.” and Wednesday Valley.
The center said Beryl is expected to become a post-tropical cyclone tomorrow.
Most of Galveston Island is without power; some areas may take up to 2 weeks to restore
Most residents on Galveston Island are without power due to high winds that damaged power lines, according to the city of Galveston.
“The island experienced severe wind damage, which caused downed power lines, transformers, trees and other debris,” the city said on Facebook today.
The city is working with CenterPoint Energy to restore power to the island but warned residents to “prepare for possible multi-day outages.”
“It is expected to take anywhere from 72 hours to two weeks in parts of the island,” the city said. “This is the only update we have at this time as it is related to the outage.”
Multiple Houston medical facilities closed; emergency rooms remain open
Several health organizations in Houston are closing or announcing reduced hours at their outpatient facilities due to Tropical Storm Emerald. The emergency room will remain open.
Harris Health said in a statement that it has closed outpatient facilities and canceled elective surgeries for today, but the emergency department will remain open. All MD Anderson Cancer Center locations will be closed to patients today except for patients requiring emergency surgery, according to the MD Anderson Cancer Center website.
Memorial Hermann Medical Group said in a statement that it has closed some facilities and rescheduled appointments. St. Luke's Health-Brazosport Hospital suffered damage but its patients and staff are safe, St. Luke's Health said on Instagram. It will continue to provide emergency care.
