Map shows Hurricane Beryl's path as storm expected to make landfall in Texas as hurricane

Hurricane Beryl has already brought heavy rain and strong winds to Texas as residents fled their homes and some areas were hurricane evacuation orders.

The tropical storm is forecast to turn back into a hurricane before landfall is expected in Texas on Monday. The situation has been worrying officials so much that tourists in several coastal countries were told to leave ahead of Fourth of July celebrations to evacuate the area.

The hurricane has already caused at least 11 deaths as it made its way from the Caribbean on its way to Texas. “We’re seeing the outer bands of Beryl approach the Texas coast now and the weather should be going downhill especially this afternoon and evening,” Eric Blake, a senior hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center, said Sunday morning.

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“People should definitely be in their safe space by nightfall and we’re expecting the hurricane to make landfall somewhere in the middle Texas coast overnight.”

Hurricane Beryl is so powerful that it has reached the official weather service's definition of rapid intensification gaining 35mph in wind speed in less than 24 hours. Texas officials warned people along the entire coastline to prepare for possible flooding, heavy rain and wind. The hurricane warning extended from Baffin Bay, south of Corpus Christi, to Sargent, south of Houston.

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Jimmy May, who has a business in Port Lavaca, said he was boarding up his property as a precaution. “in case we get a little bit too much wind, too much trash blowing,” he said. He said he wasn’t concerned about the forecasted high winds or possible storm surge in town but people in lower-lying areas “need to get out of there.”

In Corpus Christi, officials asked visitors to cut their trips short and return home early if possible. Residents were advised to secure homes by boarding up windows if necessary and using sandbags to guard against possible flooding.

Traffic was nonstop for the past three days at an Ace Hardware in the city as customers bought 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.”

Some coastal cities called for voluntary evacuations in low-lying areas that are prone to flooding, banned beach camping and urged tourists traveling on the Fourth of July holiday weekend to move recreational vehicles from coastal parks. In Refugio County, north of Corpus Christi, officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for its 6,700 residents.

Beryl, which is now a Category 5 hurricane, earlier battered Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane, toppling trees but causing no injuries or deaths before weakening to a tropical storm as it moved across the Yucatan Peninsula.