HOUSTON (AP) — Beryl stormed across the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico on a collision course with Texas, which is forecast to gain strength and regain hurricane status before approaching the coast on Sunday and making landfall the next day with heavy rain, howling winds and dangerous storm surge.
A hurricane warning was issued for much of the coast, from Baffin Bay, south of Corpus Christi, to Sargent, south of Houston, and storm surge warnings were also in effect. Tropical storm warnings were issued for other parts.
“We expect the storm to make landfall somewhere on the Texas coast sometime Monday, if the current forecast holds true,” said Jack Beven, senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. “If that happens, it will most likely be a Category 1 hurricane.”
Saturday evening, Beryl was about 335 miles (535 kilometers) southeast of Corpus Christi and had winds of 60 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. It was moving northwest at a speed of 12 miles per hour.
The first storm that developed into one Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean, Beryl caused at least 11 deaths as it passed through the Caribbean earlier this week. Then it struck Mexico as a Category 2 hurricanedowning trees but causing no injuries or deaths before weakening to a tropical storm as it passed over the Yucatan Peninsula.
Officials in Texas warned people along the entire coastline to prepare for possible flooding, heavy rain and wind.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is acting governor while Gov. Greg Abbott tours Taiwan, has issued a preemptive disaster declaration for 121 counties.
“Beryl is a determined storm, and the oncoming winds and possible flooding will pose a serious threat to Texans tracking Beryl at landfall and as it moves through the state over the next 24 hours,” Patrick said in a statement Saturday.
Some coastal cities called for voluntary evacuations in low-lying areas prone to flooding, banned beach camping and urged tourists traveling over the July 4 holiday weekend to move recreational vehicles from coastal parks.
Mitch Thames, a spokesman for Matagorda County, said officials have issued a voluntary evacuation request for the county’s coastal areas, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Houston.
“Our number 1 goal is the health and safety of all our visitors and of course our residents. I’m not that worried about our residents. The people who live there are used to this, they get it,” Thames said.
In Corpus Christi, officials asked visitors to shorten their trips and return home early if possible. Residents were advised to secure homes by boarding up windows if necessary and using sandbags to prevent possible flooding.
Traffic at an Ace Hardware in town has been nonstop for the past three days as customers buy tarp, rope, duct tape, sandbags and generators, employee Elizabeth Landry said Saturday.
“They’re just worried about the wind and the rain,” she said. “They want to prepare just in case.”
Ben Koutsoumbaris, general manager of Island Market on Padre Island in Corpus Christi, said there has “certainly been a lot of buzz about the coming storm,” with customers stocking up on food and drinks, especially meat and beer.
In Refugio County, north of Corpus Christi, officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for its 6,700 residents.
Before Beryl hit Mexico, he was working destruction in Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Barbados. Three people were reported dead in Grenada, three in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, three in Venezuela and two in Jamaica.
Vertuno reported from Austin, Texas. Associated Press writer Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Alaska, contributed.