Tropical Storm Beryl leaves 4 dead in Texas and causes a massive blackout

The passage of Tropical Storm Beryl through Texas (USA) has left at least four dead and caused a massive blackout, affecting more than two million people, according to the latest reports.

Beryl, downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm early Monday after making landfall in the southeast of the state on Sunday, will continue to move toward the centre of the country and the Great Lakes area, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

The storm is expected to continue to weaken, but the NWS still warned of potential flooding across the state and along the coasts.

The NWS has also issued tornado warnings for eastern Texas and western Louisiana.

In the Houston area, the state’s most populous city and one of the hardest hit by the storm, authorities reported a total of four deaths this afternoon, including a local police officer.

The latter was identified as Russell Richardson, 54, who died after being trapped in his car in the middle of a flood.

The state’s lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, also said at a press conference on Monday that more than 2.7 million people across the state are without electricity and indicated that it will take “several days” to restore service.

According to a statement from CenterPoint Energy, which serves the city, Beryl had a “greater than expected” impact on its customers and that more than 2.26 million people remained without power on Monday.

“We are mobilizing all of our resources (…) to begin the process of restoring power to our customers quickly and safely,” company vice president Lynnae Wilson said in the statement.

Beryl’s passage in the Caribbean

Before reaching the United States, Beryl went the highest category of 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale a week ago in the Caribbean, where it caused death and destruction, and then made landfall early Friday morning in Tulum, Mexico.

So far, three named tropical storms have formed during the Atlantic hurricane season, which began on June 1: Alberto, Beryl and Chris.

This year, the Atlantic will have a well-above-average hurricane season, with the possibility of up to 13 hurricanes, of which up to seven could be major, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

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Patrick Robinson

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