Closing summary
Hello US blog readers, it’s been a very intense morning for storm news as Beryl came ashore in Texas as a hurricane, and has since reduced to the level of a tropical storm. We’re going to close this live blog now but will keep the news updated via our main story, here.
It’s going to be a very busy summer for extreme weather and Guardian US will cover all the most significant events and the forces that may be influencing them, especially the climate crisis, where relevant. There will be blogs and news and analysis articles.
Here’s where things stand today:
More than 2 million people are affected by power outages as Beryl travels across Texas. Customers in the southeast part of the state are without power, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks outage in the US.
One man in Texas is dead after a tree toppled by Hurricane Beryl fell on the man’s home, trapping him inside. In a post to X, Harris county sheriff Ed Gonzalez confirmed that a 53-year-old was killed while taking shelter from the hurricane at home with his family. An oak tree reportedly fell on the roof and knocked out rafters, which fell on him.
Utility companies have all hands on deck as the number of people affected by power outages has been growing all morning since Beryl made landfall and began its destructive path across Texas.
More than 1,775 flights were cancelled at US airports as Hurricane Beryl made landfall early today, creating hectic travel conditions as summer vacations continue. The George Bush Intercontinental airport in Houston had the greatest number of cancelled flights according to flightaware.com.
A tornado associated with Hurricane Beryl touched down in Galveston, on the Texas coast, early today, knocking over trees and destroying at least one home. Residents had been warned that the storm could spawn twister after coming ashore.
Hurricane Beryl makes landfall in Texas early Monday with 75mph winds, near Houston, according to the US National Weather Service. The storm was moving north-west at 10mph and made landfall near Matagorda.
Beryl was already inundating parts of Texas overnight as coastal residents boarded up windows and beach towns were ordered to evacuate in preparation for a storm that has already cut a deadly path through parts of Mexico and the Caribbean.
Updated
Hurricane Beryl has produced more than 10in of rain across south-east Texas. Forecasters have warned such rainfall is causing dangerous flooding.
From Weather Track US:
TS #Beryl has already produced over 10" of rain across parts of Southeast Texas, causing considerable (locally catastrophic) flooding across the region, including the #Houston metro.
— Weather Track US (@weathertrackus) July 8, 2024
If you must travel, stay away from ANY flooded areas! Flooding is the number one cause of… pic.twitter.com/ZQYJBjk8HD
Updated
