UPDATE: Beryl forecast to make landfall just after midnight
Published 4:59 pm Sunday, July 7, 2024
Tropical Storm Beryl is forecast to make landfall shortly after midnight as a Category 1 hurricane.
National Weather Service Lake Charles Storm Warning Coordinator Doug Cramer predicts that timeframe to between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. Monday morning.
“It’s going to be pretty busy around here the next 36 hours,” he said.
The storm, which caused major damage in parts of Grenada, Jamaica and the Yucatán Peninsula, is expected to make landfall in Texas near Matagorda Bay, which is north of Corpus Christi and south of Galveston
The Hurricane Center says Beryl will bring “a danger of life-threatening storm surge inundation” and “damaging hurricane-force winds” to the lower and middle Texas coast, as well as flash and urban flooding because of torrential rains. Hurricane warnings stretch from just south of Corpus Christi to just south of Galveston, while storm surge warnings stretch from around Corpus Christi to the Texas-Louisiana border.
Houston is under a tropical storm warning.
Minor coastal flooding of up to 3 feet above ground level can be expected for areas along the Louisiana coastline, Cramer said. Minor flooding of low-lying coastal areas is becoming more likely, including some roadways.
Cramer said chances favor rainfall amounts ranging from 1 to 3 inches. Localized amounts of up to 5 inches will be possible.
