Beryl churns across Gulf of Mexico, could reach Texas by Sunday as hurricane
Texas officials Saturday were urging coastal residents to brace for a potential hit by Beryl as the tropical storm is expected to regain hurricane strength in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico after it trashed Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula Friday and battered the resort town of Tulum.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center predicted that Beryl would regain hurricane strength Sunday before likely making landfall in Texas Monday, prompting expanded hurricane and storm surge warnings.
Hurricane-force winds, life-threatening storm surge and heavy rains are expected in portions of South Texas, the hurricane center warned.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the acting governor while Gov. Greg Abbott is traveling in Taiwan, has issued a preemptive disaster declaration for 121 counties.
"Based on the current forecast, heavy rain and some localized flooding could occur all the way from the coast through areas near College Station, Tyler, and Texarkana as the storm moves through Texas on its current track," Patrick said in a statement Saturday. "The track may change over the next 40 hours. Texans need to take heed, watch their local officials, and prepare today and tomorrow before the storm makes landfall early Monday morning."
Refugio County, which is just north of Corpus Christi, ordered a mandatory evacuation on Saturday afternoon. Port Aransas, located on a barrier island in Nueces County just east of Corpus Christi, ordered a mandatory evacuation for all visitors beginning at noon Sunday.
Refugio County Judge Jhiela "Gigi" Poynter, the county's top elected official, said that based on the growing confidence of Beryl's track and the uncertainty regarding the storm's intensity and holiday weekend traffic that is already backing up roads, she made the decision to call for the mandatory evacuation.
"I would rather be cautious and let Tropical Storm Beryl come crawling in with a little bit of rain and a little bit of wind to an empty Refugio County than the alternative if it were to strengthen more than the predictions, which we know has happened with several storms in the past," Poynter said in a video posted on Facebook.
Beryl hit Tulum, Mexico, as a Category 2 hurricane and toppled trees but caused no injuries or deaths before weakening to a tropical storm as it moved across the peninsula.
As of late Saturday afternoon, Beryl was a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph. It was 385 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, headed northwest at 13 mph.
A hurricane warning is now in effect for the Texas Gulf Coast from Baffin Bay north to Sargent, a town about 70 miles southwest of Houston. A hurricane watch was in place from Baffin Bay south to the mouth of the Rio Grande River. Tropical storm warnings were also in place for portions of the northeastern coast of Mexico.
The U.S. Coast Guard said Saturday in a news release that they were "preparing and will respond to impacts" from Beryl, and urged boaters to take precautions.
Some Texas coastal cities called for voluntary evacuations in low-lying areas prone to flooding, banned beach camping and urged tourists traveling on the July 4 holiday weekend to move recreational vehicles from coastal parks.
Mitch Thames, a spokesman for Matagorda County, said Saturday that officials issued a voluntary evacuation request for the coastal areas of the county about 100 miles southwest of Houston to inform the large number of visitors in the area for the holiday weekend.
"I certainly don't want to ruin the holiday weekend for our visitors. But at the same time, our No. 1 goal is the health and safety of all our visitors and of course our residents. I'm not so much worried about our residents. Those folks that live down there, they're used to this, they get it," Thames said.
In Corpus Christi, officials asked visitors to cut their trips short and return home early if possible. Officials asked residents to secure their homes by boarding up windows if necessary and using sandbags to guard against possible flooding.
"We're taking the storm very serious and we're asking the community to take the storm very serious as well," Corpus Christi Fire Chief Brandon Wade said during a Friday evening news conference.
Beryl, the earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic, caused at least 11 deaths as it passed through the Caribbean islands earlier in the week.
What is Beryl's projected path?
Beryl is expected to regain hurricane strength over the Gulf of Mexico Sunday before aiming at the Texas coast.
"Hurricane conditions are possible in the hurricane watch areas in Texas by early Monday, with tropical storm conditions beginning by late Sunday or Sunday night," the hurricane center said.
National Hurricane Center senior specialist Jack Beven said Beryl is likely to make landfall somewhere between Brownsville and a bit north of Corpus Christi Monday. The hurricane center forecasts it will hit as a strong Category 1 storm, but wrote "this could be conservative if Beryl stays over water longer" than expected.
The waters in the Gulf of Mexico are warm enough for the early-season storm to rapidly intensify, as it has several times before.
"We should not be surprised if this is rapidly intensifying before landfall and it could become a major hurricane," said Weather Underground co-founder Jeff Masters, a former government hurricane meteorologist who flew into storms. "Category 2 may be more likely, but we should not dismiss a Category 3 possibility."
Beven said the official forecast has Beryl gaining 17 to 23 mph in wind speed in 24 hours, but noted the storm intensified more rapidly than forecasters expected earlier in the Caribbean.
"People in southern Texas now need to really keep an eye on the progress of Beryl," Beven said.
Traffic has been nonstop for the past three days at an Ace Hardware in Corpus Christi as customers buy up tarps, rope, duct tape, sandbags and generators, employee Elizabeth Landry said Saturday.
"They're just worried about the wind, the rain," she said. "They're wanting to prepare just in case."
Ben Koutsoumbaris, general manager of Island Market on Corpus Christi's Padre Island, said there's "definitely a lot of buzz about the incoming storm," with customers stocking up on food and drinks — particularly meat and beer.
"I heard there's been some talk about people having like hurricane parties," he said by telephone Saturday.
Nim Kidd, chief of state emergency operations, said oil companies have started moving employees off rigs along the coast that may be in the path of the storm.
Northeastern Mexico and southern Texas were already soaked by Tropical Storm Alberto just a couple of weeks ago.
Mexico avoids major devastation from Beryl
The head of Mexico's civil defense agency, Laura Velázquez, said Beryl hadn't caused any deaths or injuries there and that "damages were minor," though tens of thousands of people remained without power.
Tulum was plunged into darkness when the storm knocked out power as it came ashore. Screeching winds set off car alarms across the town. Wind and rain continued to whip the seaside city and surrounding areas Friday morning. Army brigades roved the streets of the tourist city, clearing fallen trees and power lines.
Although no dead or wounded have been reported, nearly half of Tulum continued to be without electricity, said Laura Velázquez, national coordinator of Mexican Civil Protection.
Before the storm hit Mexico, official had set up shelters in schools and hotels. When the wind began gusting over Tulum's beaches Thursday, officials on four-wheelers with megaphones rolled along the sand telling people to leave and authorities evacuated beachside hotels. Sea turtle eggs were even moved off beaches threatened by storm surge.
Tourists also took precautions. Lara Marsters, 54, a therapist visiting Tulum from Boise, Idaho, said she had filled up empty water bottles from the tap.
"We're going to hunker down and stay safe," she said.
Beryl leaves trail of damage, destruction
Before hitting Mexico and moving into the Gulf, Beryl had already spread destruction in Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Barbados this week. Three people have been reported dead in Grenada, three in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, three in Venezuela and two in Jamaica, officials said.
As of Friday morning, 55% of Jamaica still without electricity and most of the country was without running water, according to government figures.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness promised swift relief for residents affected by Hurricane Beryl after visiting one of the worst-affected areas of the island, the southern parish of St Elizabeth on Thursday afternoon.
"I know some of you are experiencing discomfort and displacement, and I want to assure you that the government will move as quickly as we can to get you the help you need," he said.
Earlier in the week, the hurricane damaged or destroyed 95% of homes on a pair of islands in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, jumbled fishing boats in Barbados and ripped off roofs and knocked out electricity in Jamaica.
On Union Island, part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a man who identified himself as Captain Baga described the storm's impact, including how he had filled two 2,000-gallon rubber water tanks in preparation.
"I strapped them down securely on six sides; and I watched the wind lift those tanks and take them away — filled with water," he said Thursday. "I'm a sailor and I never believed wind could do what I saw it do. If anyone (had) ever told me wind could do that, I would have told them they lie!"
The island was littered with debris from homes that looked like they had exploded.
Historic hurricane
Beryl was the earliest Category 5 hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic basin, and was only the second Category 5 storm recorded in July since 2005, according to the hurricane center.
It took Beryl only 42 hours to strengthen from a tropical depression to a major hurricane, which is a Category 3 storm or higher — a feat accomplished only six other times in Atlantic hurricane history, and with Sept. 1 as the earliest date, according to hurricane expert Sam Lillo.
Beryl was also the third Category 3 hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic in June, following Audrey in 1957 and Alma in 1966, hurricane specialist and storm surge expert Michael Lowry said.
"Beryl is an extremely dangerous and rare hurricane for this time of year in this area," he told the AP in a phone interview. "Unusual is an understatement," he said, calling Beryl historic.
Hurricane Ivan in 2004 was the last strongest hurricane to hit the southeast Caribbean, causing catastrophic damage in Grenada as a Category 3 storm.
Beryl is the second named storm in what is predicted to be a busy hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 in the Atlantic. Last month, Tropical Storm Alberto brought torrential flooding to portions of southern Texas and northeastern Mexico. It was responsible for at least four deaths in the Mexican states of Nuevo Leon and Veracruz.
According to CBS News weather producer David Parkinson, Beryl is the farthest east a hurricane has formed in June, and one of only two to do so east of the Caribbean, with the other instance occurring in 1933.
Warm waters fueled Beryl, with ocean heat content in the deep Atlantic the highest on record for this time of year, according to Brian McNoldy, University of Miami tropical meteorology researcher.
