Hurricane Beryl Causes Havoc for State of Texas, 2.3m without power

Hurricane Beryl made landfall along the Texas coast as a Category 1 storm, unleashing a barrage of severe weather as it moved inland before weakening into a tropical storm, yet still cable of widespread damage.

Beryl had sustained winds of over 80 mph as it made landfall, as it battered communities and infrastructure, with more than 2.3 million people are without power in Texas, according to poweroutage.us.

The storm prompted closures or vessel traffic restrictions at multiple ports in cities from Houston to Corpus Christi. The ports of Corpus Christi, Houston, Galveston, Freeport, and Texas City said they closed after condition "Zulu" was set by U.S. Coast Guard captains.

Disruption was also caused to transport where road closures and high-water locations in Houston and Texas City caused problems.

Acting Governor Dan Patrick urged Texans to make final preparations and announced that 121 counties were added to the state’s Hurricane Beryl Disaster Declaration, as storm forecasts shifted the expected landfall north and east of previous projections.

The Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) increased its readiness level of the State Emergency Operations Center and Texas Emergency Management Council agencies worked 24-hour operations, while continuing to preposition state emergency response resources that were readied for deployment by Governor Greg Abbott.