County spared effects of Beryl

As of press time, the bands of Hurricane Beryl are barely brushing through DeWitt County. The western side of the storm is seeing little rainfall, but this was not known over the weekend as county leaders made decisions about public meetings.

The regular meeting of the DeWitt County Commissioners Court at 9 a.m. on Monday was postponed and county offices closed as well.

“At the time (Sunday) we were expected to experience tropical storm wind, rain, some flooding, and possibly tornadoes,” County Judge Daryl Fowler said in an email about an emergency management meeting.

The rescheduled regular meeting of the Commissioner’s Court will be Friday, July 12 at 9 a.m.

According to De-Witt County Office of Emergency Manager Billy Jordan, the county is classified as “pass through” in regard to evacua- tions. In other words, those evacuating from coastal areas will not have official safe shelter here, but in counties further inland.

Tourists in coastal areas, such as Rockport, were encouraged to leave on Saturday, but mandatory evacuations were not ordered, according to Newscenter 25 Chief Meteorologist Maclovio Perez.

Beryl made landfall at 4 a.m. Monday as a Category 1 hurricane near Matagorda with 80 mph winds and a 4-6 foot storm surge. Galveston experienced a tornado before sunrise and the storm slowed over land, wreaking havoc in wind damage, electrical outages and flooding.

In Jackson County, the Herald-Tribune, a sister paper of the Yorktown News-View, experienced an electrical and internet outage. Oddly enough, a sudden storm from the east on Saturday brought more fierce wind and rain to DeWitt County than Beryl’s landfall on Monday.