Hurricane Beryl
hurricane season

Hurricane Beryl proves little more than a blowhard locally

Storm makes second landfall at Matagorda, moves on to Houston, East Texas

  • One of many photos submitted by Associated Press photographers up and down the Texas coast leading up Hurricane Beryl's landfall Monday. This shot was framed in Rockport, which incidentally, suffered massive damages during Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
    One of many photos submitted by Associated Press photographers up and down the Texas coast leading up Hurricane Beryl's landfall Monday. This shot was framed in Rockport, which incidentally, suffered massive damages during Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

    Most in Lavaca County and her neighbors awoke to overcast and breezy conditions Monday, not much of anything to write home about as far as hurricane conditions were concerned.

    After tearing through the Caribbean and hitting northern Mexico over the holiday weekend, Tropical Storm Beryl returned to warm Gulf waters Saturday where it skirted the Texas coastline to rebuild strength to a Category 1 hurricane before making landfall again at about 4 a.m. Monday at the town of Matagorda.

    By 8 a.m. Monday, The Associated Press was reporting that about a million people were without power around the Houston area, as bands of heavy rains and powerful winds moved farther inland over Houston, localized flooding closing several city streets. 

    Outside of a few isolated showers Sunday, Lavaca County and her neighbors didn’t see so much as a drop of rain out of Hurricane Beryl’s overnight landfall.   

    County officials, first responders and other emergency personnel met at 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon at the courthouse with County Judge Keith Mudd for a storm briefing. They agreed to proceed as usual under a heightened alert status until the storm made a definite landfall once more.

    Mudd, in an abundance of caution, closed all non-emergency county offices on Monday in anticipation of tropical storm force winds and potential rains. 

    The usual Monday commissioners court meeting in Hallettsville was postponed until 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 10. 

    The earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic, Beryl caused at least 11 deaths as it passed through the Caribbean on its way to Texas. The storm ripped off doors, windows and roofs with devastating winds and storm surge fueled by the Atlantic’s record warmth, AP reported.

    The storm was expected to move across East Texas Monday and then on to the Mississippi River Valley.