Beryl was downgraded to a tropical storm on Friday after making landfall as a powerful Category 2 hurricane on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. However, the storm could strengthen again as it approaches Texas, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The Yucatán Civil Protection Department said the storm made landfall north of Tulum at 7:05 a.m. ET with sustained winds of 108 mph and gusts of 136 mph. Photos shared by the governor of Quintana Roo, the state where Tulum is located, showed downed power lines, trees and flooding.
The center of the storm is expected to move across the southwestern Gulf of Mexico on Friday evening and reach the western Gulf Coast on Sunday evening.
The tropical storm reached maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (105 km/h) at 5 p.m. Friday, but is expected to increase in wind speed once the storm moves over the Gulf of Mexico.
“Unfortunately, we expect conditions to be such that Beryl will restrengthen and regain hurricane strength,” National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said in a video update.
The storm remains to the north of its planned tracks, increasing the chance of a landfall in Texas.
A hurricane and storm surge warning was issued Friday for a stretch of the Texas Gulf Coast from the mouth of the Rio Grande River to Sargent, an area covering about 250 miles (400 kilometers) and including the city of Corpus Christi.
Most of the Texas coast was facing the potential for 3 to 5 feet of storm surge, the National Hurricane Center said. The area from Baffin Bay to the Rio Grande was expected to see between 2 and 4 feet.
A severe weather emergency has been declared for 40 Texas counties due to potential impacts from the storm. The declaration allows for additional assistance if needed.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is acting governor while Gov. Gregg Abbott is on a trade mission abroad, said Friday that Beryl was a “very slow-moving storm” moving at about 6 mph.
“Once it hits the water, the storm will tell us more about where it’s going,” Patrick said
Among the coastal communities that distributed sandbags were the city of Corpus Christi and the resort town of South Padre Island in southern Texas.
The hurricane is blamed for nine deaths in Venezuela, Jamaica and the Windward Island states of Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The hurricane caused severe damage to many homes in Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, officials there said.
Beryl’s formation and strength are record-breaking. Scientists say the process of rapid intensification is becoming more common as climate change increases sea surface temperatures.
It was the first Category 4 hurricane to form in June and the earliest Category 4 storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. Before Beryl, the earliest was Hurricane Dennis, which formed on July 8, 2005.
When Beryl strengthened this week to a Category 5 storm with sustained winds of up to 165 mph (265 km/h), it became the most powerful hurricane on record in July.
Kathryn Prociv And Tangni Noriega contributed.