Beryl live updates: Texas issues disaster declaration for 40 counties ahead of hurricane making landfall
Beryl is now a tropical storm but is expected to regain strength over the weekend as it heads for Texas
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Tropical storm Beryl is now charting a dangerous path towards Texas, with state officials issuing a disaster declaration for 40 counties and urging residents across the coast to evacuate.
The National Hurricane Center has forecast Beryl will bring dangerous rip currents to the Gulf Coast over the weekend before likely hitting southern Texas late on Sunday.
The storm is forecast to re-strengthen into a hurricane as it moves into the Gulf of Mexico and will have become a category 1 hurricane by the time it makes landfall in the US.
Governor Greg Abbott warned Texans to prepare for impact: “As Texans and visitors in south coastal areas celebrate Independence Day, I urge them to also make an emergency plan to stay safe.”
Beryl has so far killed at least eleven people in St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Jamaica and Venezuela after it charted a deadly path through the Caribbean as a category five hurricane earlier in the week.
On Wednesday, the storm knocked out power to 400,000 homes and destroyed buildings in Jamaica. On Friday morning, it made landfall on the popular Mexico tourist destination Tulum with 85mph winds and dangerous storm surge.
Texas officials issue disaster declaration for 40 counties ahead of Beryl landfall
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick — who is acting governor while Governor Greg Abbott is out of country traveling — has issued a disaster declaration for 40 counties ahead of Beryl’s landfall as an expected Category 1 hurricane.
The declaration allows state resources to be used in preperatory work and recovery efforts.
Abbott advised Texans living in the storm’s path to begin preparing now for the storm’s arrival.
Beryl hurricane, storm surge watches in effect across Texas and north coastal Mexico
The National Weather Service announced storm surge and hurricane wanrings for Texas’ east coast on Friday night.
Those warnings extend from the mouth of the Rio Grande to San Luis Pass further north.
Coastal Harris County is also under the warning.
The hurricane watch is in effect for Mexico’s northeastern coast between Barra el Mezquital to the mouth of the Rio Grande.
Hurricane season 2024 is here. Here’s how to stay prepared
Hurricane season is upon us, known for disastrous flooding and high-speed winds in coastal areas of the United States and in the Caribbean and Central America, and emergency management officials are urging people to stay prepared.
Unlike previous hurricane seasons, this summer brings record hot temperatures nationwide and an early onset of storms. Hurricane season runs June 1 to Nov. 30, but usually the most hurricanes occur in September and October, said Jaime Hernandez, the emergency management director for Hollywood, on Florida’s Atlantic Coast.
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Hurricane season 2024 is here. Here's how to stay prepared
Hurricane season is upon us, and emergency management officials are urging residents to stay prepared
WATCH: Hurricane Beryl tears roof off school as storm rips through Caribbean
Texas residents given voluntary evacuation nudge
Officials in Matagorda County emergency management called for a voluntary evacuation on Friday night for residents living and visiting the state’s coast ahead of Beryl’s arrival on Sunday.
The voluntary evaucation includes residents in Sargent, Matagorda, and Palacios counties.
A voluntary evacuation is essentially a strong recommendation for residents to and visitors to seek shelter elsewhere until it is safe to return.
Rains from Beryl may stretch well into next week for Texans
When Storm Beryl arrives in Texas as a Category 1 hurricane, it is expected to bring 5-10 inches of rainfall, with some locations seeing as high as 15 inches.
The rain will most affect the eastern coast of Texas beginning later on Sunday and stretching into the middle of next week, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Along with the rain high winds, the storm will also bring a 2-5 foot storm surge to the coast.
WATCH: Mexican officials evacuated sea turtle eggs ahead of Beryl
Shocking aerial photos show widespread devastation after Hurricane Beryl moved through Caribbean
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Hurricane Beryl: Aerial images show before and after of storm’s destruction
Hurricane Beryl ‘flattened’ Carriacou Island and destroyed thousands of buildings in the eastern Caribbean
World Central Kitchen sends aid to Carriacou Island
World Central Kitchen, a disaster relief non-profit, has sent a support team to Grenada’s Carriacou Island in the wake of Beryl.
The storm “flattened” the island in half an hour on Monday, officials said, after it swept through the region as a Category 5 hurricane.
More than 10,000 sea turtle eggs were rescued from Mexico’s beach ahead of Hurricane Beryl
As Hurricane Beryl approached Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula this week, officials scrambled to evacuate an especially vulnerable group - sea turtle eggs.
Mexican officials moved to save the eggs on Wednesday ahead of the storm, which made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane near Tulum early Friday.
Officials relocated the eggs using sand-filled coolers and helped insulate their nests along the beach, the Associated Press reported. Storm surge and rises in sea level — conditions which Beryl and other storms cause — pose significant threats to sea turtle eggs, because they can’t hatch if they’re swept out to sea.
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Hurricane Beryl updates: Thousands of sea turtle eggs evacuated from Mexican beaches
Hurricane conditions can sweep turtle eggs out to sea, where they can’t hatch
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