Beryl roars through Texas; at least 2 dead, millions without power: Live updates

Beryl made landfall along the Texas coast as a Category 1 storm early Monday, unleashing a barrage of severe weather as it moved inland before weakening into a tropical storm still capable of widespread damage.

Through the morning much of eastern Texas was inundated with "life-threatening storm surge," torrential rain and powerful wind gusts of up to 84 mph in the Houston area, the National Hurricane Center said . The dangerous conditions prompted rescue operations, disrupted hundreds of flights, left more than 2 million people without power and caused at least two deaths.

Beryl had sustained winds of over 80 mph as it made landfall at 4 a.m. Central Time near Matagorda, a coastal community between Corpus Christi and Galveston, according to the hurricane center. More than five hours later, the sustained winds had diminished to 70 mph, a bit below hurricane force but still capable of uprooting trees and knocking down power poles.

In a suburban part of Harris County, just northeast of Houston, a man was killed when a tree fell on his home and trapped him under debris, according to Sheriff Ed Gonzalez . In northern Harris County, a tree fell onto a house and killed a 74-year-old woman, Gonzalez said on social media .

Last week, Beryl carved a path of destruction across the Caribbean − leaving at least 11 people dead and destroying or severely damaging infrastructure on several islands. Beryl, which at one point strengthened into the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record, last made landfall on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Friday morning.

Developments :

∎ The highest wind gusts recorded Monday as Hurricane Beryl moved into inland Texas measured 97 mph in Brazoria County, northwest of Houston. An 89 mph gust was reported at Houston University, according to the National Weather Service .

∎ The storm prompted closures or restrictions in vessel traffic at multiple ports in cities from Houston to Corpus Christi, including Galveston, Freeport and Texas City.

∎ Across eastern Texas, heavy rain and the ensuing flooding triggered water rescues as people became trapped in their homes and vehicles.

Hurricane Beryl's strength caught people off guard

Hal Needham, an extreme weather scientist widely known to other locals in Galveston, Texas, as " Hurricane Hal ", was up just after 4 a.m. on Monday to monitor the storm and livestream updates.

"We've had some pretty big squalls today with widespread power outages," he said. "I think the storm was a lot stronger than a lot of people expected."

Needham said he was also concerned that continuing power outages would leave residents vulnerable to high-80s heat and high humidity. "This is the hottest time of the year," he said. "If people still don't have power, there could really be some issues with heat exhaustion, with heat-related illnesses, especially for elderly people with health conditions."

Although people from the area are hurricane-savvy, this storm hit earlier than most, catching them off guard, Needham said. "Only 3% of major hurricanes usually happen in June or July," he said. "Typically, Texas does not get a lot of July and June hurricane landfalls."

"I think people were really surprised by how hard and how quickly this hit," he added.

Beryl's path

Hurricane Beryl was 45 miles north-northwest of Houston, according to the National Hurricane Center's latest advisory at noon CT. The storm was hurtling north-northeast at 13 mph with sustained winds of 65 mph, down from 80 mph when it made landfall.

Beryl is projected to downgrade into a tropical depression as it continues heading north across the Mississippi Valley and then the Ohio Valley, where it's expected to dissipate on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In Galveston, a fish swimming on a flooded street

Jacob Jonathan, 21, awoke Monday to harsh winds banging on the window of his Galveston home, which he found "a little stressful.''

Jonathan said his street was flooded with nearly a foot of water. At one point, he looked out his window to see a fish jump out of it. Debris littered the neighborhood, and one fence was knocked down by the wind, he said.

By midday, Jonathan was still out of power, and said some friends in Galveston were also without water. "We're mainly worried about our food going bad in the fridge," he said.

Jonathan spent the morning at home after the auto repair shop where he works delayed its opening until the afternoon because of the storm, and he was waiting to see when conditions improved.

"Our house is lifted and we don't have any leaking," he added. "The only nuisance right now is we had to pick up after our animals because they can't really walk in the water."

Hurricane Beryl 'has been rough'

Donna Radin said she was startled awake by the “very strong howl” of wind rattling her home as rain came down in sheets early Monday morning.

The 58-year-old travel agent lives in Deer Park, a small city east of Houston. Around 5 a.m., as the conditions worsened, she heard a generator blow just down the block, and soon her home lost power.

Huddled inside with her daughter, two granddaughters and five dogs, Radin said she's avoided the windows but can see lots of downed trees and the remnants of a fence that was ripped out of the ground and hurled several yards away.

"It's the most intense Cat 1 I've ever been through," said Radin, who has lived on the Texas Gulf Coast all her life. "I told my husband, 'Our next investment will be remote-controlled hurricane shutters,' because this has been rough."

More: Hurricane Beryl tracker: Storm makes landfall in Texas, see spaghetti models, path

Beryl causes over 1,000 flight cancellations in Houston

More than 1,000 flights across airports in Houston were canceled early Monday as Beryl bore down on the city.

At George Bush Intercontinental Airport, nearly 1,000 arriving and departing flights were canceled, according to FightAware . The smaller William P. Hobby Airport had more than 225 cancellations, FlightAware said.

Houston is a major hub for United Airlines, which is enduring the worst of the operational impacts from the storm. About 14% of United’s flights, around 400 departures, have been canceled Monday.

Beryl knocks out power for over 2 million people in Texas

Nearly 2.2 million customers were out of power in eastern Texas, according to the power company CenterPoint Energy . It’s unclear how many of those customers were in Houston. On its website, CenterPoint Energy said the service was disrupted by 5,571 active outages.

According to PowerOutage.us , an outage tracker, close to 2.7 million homes and businesses across Texas were without power.

Texas power outage map

Beryl brings flooding, prompting water rescues

Across eastern Texas, officials in multiple counties said first responders were actively rescuing people trapped in their cars and homes amid Hurricane Beryl's deluge.

Gonzalez, the Harris County sheriff , asked drivers to "please stay off the roadways" as heavy rain drenched Houston and its surrounding areas.

The police department in Rosenberg, just southwest of Houston, said it was conducting water rescues and warned residents about falling trees and ongoing flooding.

'We need help': Honeymoon now a 'prison nightmare,' after Hurricane Beryl strands couple in Jamaica

"Street flooding, downed trees, power outages and water rescues. All of that is happening right now in Rosenberg. Please stay off of the roads,'' the Rosenberg Police Department said on X . "A downed tree even fell (on) one of our high water rescue vehicles coming back from a rescue."

In Fort Bend County, southwest of Houston, officials in a statement on X asked residents to, "Please stay home until the storm passes." The statement from the county said "trees and debris are all over the roads, several roads flooded and most signals are out." It added that deputies were responding to "stranded/flooded motorists."

It's hurricane season. See which previous storms passed near your neighborhood

Hurricane Beryl hits records amid projected busy hurricane season

On July 1, Beryl made landfall in Grenada's Carriacou Island as a Category 4 hurricane and tore through the southern Caribbean Islands, flattening hundreds of buildings.

Later that night, Beryl became the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record . Driven by record-high ocean temperatures , Beryl's rapid strengthening stunned experts. Beryl was also the earliest Category 4 hurricane on record and is the first June major hurricane east of the Lesser Antilles on record.

Federal forecasters have predicted a hurricane season unlike any other , with as many as 25 named storms possible. It is the most storms the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has ever predicted in a preseason outlook.

Contributing: Jorge L. Ortiz and Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY; Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Beryl roars through Texas; at least 2 dead, millions without power: Live updates