Hurricane Beryl Live Updates: Storm Strengthens to Category 2 Hurricane as Texas Braces for Impact

Tropical Storm Beryl is gaining strength as it approaches Texas and could make landfall as a Category 2 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said Sunday.

The storm’s maximum sustained winds are currently 65 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Some of the storm’s outer rain bands have begun to reach the southeast Texas coast, bringing heavy rain and brief thunderstorms to the area.

Beryl is expected to reach hurricane strength later today.

“Beryl is expected to strengthen through landfall early Monday, and people should prepare for the possibility of a Category 2 hurricane making landfall,” the National Hurricane Center said in a statement issued at 11 a.m. local time.

The National Hurricane Center said Beryl had been upgraded to a hurricane with maximum sustained winds increasing to nearly 75 mph (120 kph).

She added that the hurricane will strengthen before reaching the Texas coast on Monday.

Hurricane Beryl was an extraordinary storm, setting records as the earliest Category 5 hurricane ever documented.

It caused extensive destruction throughout the Caribbean, particularly in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Mayo, Union, and Grenada.

Hurricane Beryl was among the most powerful storms ever to hit Jamaica, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without electricity.

The National Weather Service still expects Tropical Storm Beryl to hit Texas as a Category 1 hurricane Monday morning.

This would make Beryl the first Atlantic hurricane to hit the United States during the summer and fall hurricane season of 2024.

Houston airport says flight delays or cancellations are possible as Beryl approaches Texas.

Even for flights departing from or arriving at destinations outside the storm’s direct path, “airlines may need to adjust flight schedules and routes due to the overall impact of the hurricane on their network,” she said.

She urged people not to take refuge at the airport during the storm.

“As the storm approaches and people plan to stay home and stay safe from the storm, we want to remind everyone that our airports are not equipped to serve as storm shelters. We lack the supplies and staff to accommodate people seeking shelter during the storm.”

The National Hurricane Center said there is a risk of life-threatening storm surge flooding along the Texas coast from Mesquite Bay to Sabine Pass, including Matagorda Bay and Galveston Bay.

Conditions are expected to deteriorate with dangerous storm surges, flash flooding and strong winds as Beryl is expected to make landfall as a hurricane along the Texas coast, the National Hurricane Center said.

Beryl Volcano is located 75 miles (120 km) southeast of Matagorda, Texas, and about 110 miles (180 km) east of Corpus Christi, Texas, according to the advisory at 10 p.m. CDT.

The storm is moving with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 km/h).

Florida communities come together to help other communities affected by Hurricane Beryl.

The storm has killed at least nine people in the Caribbean and hit the island of Carriacou in Grenada earlier this week.

Floridians — no strangers to the power of hurricanes — have begun donating essential supplies and volunteering their time to prepare donated goods for shipment to hurricane-hit communities that need them most.

Rain and strong winds are beginning to batter coastal Texas residents as powerful Tropical Storm Burley approaches after leaving a trail of destruction in parts of Mexico and the Caribbean.

Although Beryl remained a tropical storm on Sunday as it headed toward Texas, it threatened to regain hurricane strength in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico before making landfall early Monday.

The storm is expected to come ashore on the mid-Texas coast around Matagorda Bay, an area about 100 miles (161 kilometers) south of Houston, but officials warned that the path could change.

Texas officials warned that the storm would cause power outages and flooding, but they also expressed concern that not enough coastal residents and beachgoers in Beryl’s path were heeding warnings to leave. “One of the things that concerns us a little bit is that we’ve looked at all the roads that are leaving the coast and the maps are still green,” said acting Texas Gov. Dan Patrick.