Hurricane Beryl - July 2024

Hurricane Beryl made landfall near Matagorda, TX at 4 am CDT as a category 1 hurricane ON Monday, July 8th, 2024. The first outer bands of the storm reached Southeast Texas during the afternoon hours on July 7th. Beryl brought coastal flooding, flash flooding, and widespread wind damage to most of the region. The highest sustained wind was at Surfside Beach at 64 mph with the highest gust of 97 mph near SH-36 at Brazos River in Brazoria County. The high winds brought numerous trees and power lines across the area resulting in widespread power outages. On average, Beryl produced around 4 to 8 inches of rainfall; but there were swaths of 10 to 15 inches where the rainbands stayed over. There has been one confirmed tornado, an EF-1, that started out as a waterspout that crossed over Galveston Island near Jamaica Beach during the early morning hours of July 8th. Hurricane Beryl produced storm surge flooding generally between 4 and 6 ft, with some storm surveys finding up to 8 ft of inundation. There were 7 total fatalities due to Beryl. The direct deaths were 5 due to falling trees, and 2 due to flash flooding. The indirect deaths were 2 from carbon monoxide poisoning, 1 from a house fire that started from lightning, and 1 that lost power to their medical machine. Heat index values of 100 to 106°F were experienced for several days after Beryl exited the region, leading to Heat Advisories due to millions without power.