Tropical Storm Beryl could grow into a Category 2 hurricane by the time it makes landfall in the Houston area early today as it regains strength moving northwest over the Gulf of Mexico, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
The storm was expected to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane on Sunday as it travels over warm waters. The NHC issued hurricane warnings across much of the Texas coast.
Forecasters warned that Beryl could bring punishing winds and 5 to 10 inches (13 to 25 centimeters) of rain to the Texas coast and beyond.
Coastal areas were already seeing waters rise on Sunday and county officials ordered one beach town evacuated. The U.S. Coast Guard shut the port of Houston on Sunday afternoon due to worsening sea conditions. It also closed the ports of Texas City, Freeport and Galveston in Texas.
School systems including Houston’s — the state’s largest — said they would be closed Monday.
National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan warned on Sunday afternoon that residents had only a few more hours to prepare. “If you have been asked to leave by local officials, please do so,” he said.
Acting Texas Governor Dan Patrick said Beryl “will be a deadly storm for people who are directly in that path.” He declared 120 counties to be in a disaster area.
The storm has prompted closures or vessel traffic restrictions at multiple ports in cities from Houston to Corpus Christi, which is the top crude oil export hub in the U.S. The closures could disrupt crude oil exports, shipments of crude to refineries, and motor fuel from these plants.
Temperatures in the region are forecast at above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) in the coming days, including heat indices as high as 108 on Sunday. Parts of eastern Texas were on flood watch ahead of the storm, which had maximum wind speeds of 60 mph (96 kph) as of Sunday morning.
Earlier this week the storm, which at one point intensified into the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record, left a deadly trail of destruction across the Caribbean. It swept through Jamaica, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, in addition to unleashing heavy rainfall on northern Venezuela.
It has claimed at least 11 lives, tearing apart buildings while felling power lines and trees.
Beryl last made landfall on Friday, crossing Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and causing power outages in some areas. It largely spared the top beach destinations there and caused no casualties. Video showed the international airport at Cancun packed with tourists on Saturday as they rescheduled flights home after the storm.
With Beryl now approaching Texas, the National Weather Service warned of storm surges causing coastal flooding and rip currents.
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OIL REFINERIES
Most of the northern Gulf’s offshore oil and gas production is east of Beryl’s forecast track.
Some oil producers, including Shell and Chevron, had evacuated personnel from their Gulf of Mexico offshore production platforms ahead of the storm.
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LARGEST TEXAS PORTS CLOSE
The largest ports in Texas closed operations and vessel traffic on Sunday to prepare for Tropical Storm Beryl, which was expected to strengthen back to a hurricane before hitting the area early today.
The ports of Corpus Christi, Houston, Galveston, Freeport and Texas City said they closed after condition “Zulu” was set by Coast Guard captains on Sunday. All vessel movement and cargo operations are restricted as gale force winds are expected within 12 hours.
Corpus Christi, about 200 miles (322 km) from Houston, is the top crude oil export hub in the United States. Texas City, and Freeport also are major oil and refined products shipping hubs on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Port closures could bring a temporary halt to crude exports, oil shipments to refineries, and motor fuels from those plants.