Grenada Several dead in Texas after storm "Beryl"
Hurricane Beryl has claimed the lives of several people in the south of the USA. At least seven people were killed in the state of Texas, for example by falling trees, reported the newspaper "Houston Chronicle" and the broadcaster CNN, citing official sources.
09.07.2024, 11:14
SDA
Among the dead was a police officer in the Houston metropolis who drowned in his car on his way to work, Mayor John Whitmire announced at a media conference. One person also died in the neighboring state of Louisiana as a result of the storm, according to CNN.
President Joe Biden expressed his condolences to those affected and promised Texans his support. "We thank all first responders and will stand with the people of Texas every step of the way," he wrote on the X platform.
Millions of households without power
"Beryl" made landfall early Monday morning (local time) near the Texan town of Matagorda as a category 1 hurricane out of 5, but then lost strength. Matagorda is located around 130 kilometers southwest of the metropolis of Houston.
More than 2.3 million households were still without power on Tuesday night (local time), according to data from the website poweroutage.us. According to the lieutenant governor of Texas, Dan Patrick, almost three million households were without power on Monday. It will probably take several days for the supply to be restored, the operating company announced.
Devastated cities, dead animals
Images from the affected areas showed flooded streets, fallen trees and electricity pylons. According to the Houston SPCA, hundreds of herons also fell victim to the storm. They fell out of their nests during the hurricane and drowned, it said.
According to the US hurricane center, "Beryl" has since weakened, but continues to cause heavy rainfall as a tropical depression in the east of Texas and in the neighboring states of Louisiana and Arkansas. Tornadoes are also possible. According to meteorologists, "Beryl" is expected to move further north-east in the coming days and lose strength.
A week of destruction
"Beryl" has been keeping people in the region on tenterhooks since the end of June. It was the first hurricane of this year's hurricane season, which begins in the Atlantic on June 1 and ends on November 30. In the south-east of the Caribbean, "Beryl" temporarily reached the highest hurricane strength, category 5, i.e. sustained winds of more than 251 kilometers per hour. It roared over several islands in the Lesser Antilles, hit the mainland on the east coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula and then moved on through the Gulf of Mexico.
At least eleven people died in the Caribbean region, including three in Venezuela. On some of the island states of Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, more than 90 percent of homes were damaged or destroyed, according to the governments. Jamaica also suffered extensive damage and widespread power cuts in some places.
Never before had such a strong storm been recorded so early in the Atlantic hurricane season. Warmer seawater as a result of climate change makes strong hurricanes more likely.
