Houston, Texas, is in the southern US condition where some people were forced to leave after being warned of flooding and power interruptions by Hurricane Beryl.
The US National Hurricane Center ( NHC ) said Beryl hit the town of Matagorda with wind speeds of 80 miles ( 130 kilometers ) per hour.
In its most recent report on Monday, the NHC warned that “life-threatening surprise surge, strong winds are occurring, and significant flash and industrial flooding is anticipated.”
Houston, which is home to 2.3 million people, was the subject of a cyclone notice issued by the National Weather Service for pieces of Texas.
” We have to get Beryl very, very severely. Our worst foe is complacency”, said Houston Mayor John Whitmire.
The president urged Houston people to be aware that the conditions under which they fall asleep will not be the same as they did when they woke up in the morning.
On Sunday, some parts of the Texas coastline were subject to hurricane and storm warnings. Between Corpus Christi and Galveston Island, where Beryl had been anticipated to make landfall, lies about halfway between the terminal city of Madagaorda and the island’s port area.
The NHC said rainfall of up to 15 inches ( 38 centimeters ) was expected in parts of Texas, warning that it could cause flash flooding in some areas.
While neighboring Refugio County, which is still recovering from Hurricane Harvey in 2017, issued a mandatory removal attempt on Saturday, officials in Nueces County, which is home to Corpus Christi, asked visitors to leave the city.
Videos on social media that show traces of cars leaving area indicate that the city of Galveston, south of Houston, has issued a volunteer evacuation order for some areas.
– ‘ A dangerous storm’-
Acting State Governor Dan Patrick urged Texans to be alert, pay attention to local authorities, and avoid the danger zone as much as possible.
People who are straight in that path will experience a dangerous storm, Patrick said at a press conference for state emergency management.
” Trust me, you do n’t want to be in a Category 1″, he said, referring to the lowest hurricane level.
After tearing through Venezuela and the Caribbean, Beryl left at least seven people dead and the winds occasionally surpassed Category 5 power.
According to its civil security agency, it hit Mexico as a Category 2 cyclone on Friday, compressing branches and lampposts, and ripping off roof tiles. There were no reported fatalities or injuries that, despite the country’s reputation for being unintentional.
Before that, it hit the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, slamming Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as Venezuela.
Beryl is the first storms to cross the Category 4 mark in June and the first to cross the Category 5 mark in July.
This early in the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from early June to late November, is extremely uncommon for quite a powerful storm to type.
Because there is more energy for storms to feed on in a cooler ocean, according to scientists, climate change is likely to play a role in the swift intensification of storms like Beryl.
According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, North Atlantic waters are now between two and five degrees Celsius ( one and three degrees Fahrenheit ) warmer than average.
