Texas braces for Beryl impact as storm bears down

July 7 (UPI) -- Much of south Texas is under voluntary evacuation orders as authorities prepare for Beryl to hit the Lone Star State as a hurricane on Monday.

Tropical Storm Beryl is barreling toward south Texas and is expected to make landfall in Matagorda Bay, about 100 miles southwest of Houston, early Monday as a Category 1 hurricane, authorities said Sunday.

"The County of Matagorda is under imminent threat of widespread or severe damage, injury or loss of life or property resulting from Hurricane Beryl," Matagorda County Judge Bobby Seiferman said in a disaster declaration ahead of the storm's landfall.

He said he has determined extraordinary measures must be taken to "alleviate the suffering of people and to protect or rehabilitate property."

The city of Bay City was providing sandbags for local residents, advising them to "please be respectful and only take what you need." All sandbags were claimed by 2:20 p.m. CDT on Sunday.

Residents were filling sandbags at local merchants, but were limited to just half a dozen per household, according to a Facebook post. Other residents were asking for help from local officials to find temporary housing.

Officials are advising residents to stock up on essentials, including water, and cautioned people to move to safer areas if they feel they are in danger and prepare to "shelter in place" for several days.

"Prepare to hunker down tonight and Monday and be without power for 1 to 2 days and even longer near where Beryl makes landfall along the coast," The Bay City Sentinel reported on Facebook.

Much of the Gulf Coast is under a voluntary evacuation order and there are hurricane and storm surge surge watches in effect. Residents of Houston further north are also expected to see the effects of Beryl .

"Flash and urban flooding, some of which may be considerable, is expected across portions of the middle and upper Texas Gulf Coast and Eastern Texas through Monday night," NOAA warned on its hurricane website. "River flooding is also expected."

At 2 p.m. EDT Sunday, the storm was about 165 miles southwest of Matagorda Bay.