Tornado watch in effect for southeast Texas, including Houston
There will be a tornado watch in place for southeast Texas, including Houston and Galveston, until 10 a.m. CT. The risk for tornadoes today will be highest this afternoon near the Texas / Louisiana border stretching up toward Little Rock.
A senior emergency response official has urged the people of Houston to stay home and not to travel through rising waters, as more than a million people are without power in and around the city.
“It is bad. We do have approximately 1 million customers without electricity in the Houston area. There’s some street flooding, so the situation’s gotten bad through the night as expected,” Emergency management coordinator for Houston, Thomas Munoz told NBC News.
Munoz said high-water vehicles had been placed strategically throughout the city and that preparations had been ongoing for three or four days.
Asked for his message for people, Munoz said: “Definitely stay home, don’t get on the roads.”
14 million people under flood watches as Beryl moves north
Some 14 million people from the Texas coast to southern Illinois are under flood watches this morning as Beryl cuts its path through eastern Texas.
Rainfall rates of 3 inches per hour will likely cause significant flash flooding, especially in highly urbanized areas, including Houston.
As tropical moisture heads north through the week, the storm could produce 2 to 4 inches of rain and raise flood concerns for cities such as St. Louis, Chicago and Detroit.
Hurricane Beryl remains a Category 1 Hurricane with 75-mph winds three hours after making landfall on Texas’ Gulf Coast. The center is 45 miles north-northeast of Matagorda and is moving north at 12 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in an 8 a.m. ET update.
 The highest wind speeds recorded so far were 89 mph in Port O’Connor and Matagorda Bay, while 69 mph was recorded at Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport.
The highest rainfall total recorded in the last 24 hours was 9.08 inches at Palacios in Matagorda County
The center of Beryl is expected to move over eastern Texas today, then move through the Lower Mississippi Valley into the Ohio Valley on Tuesday and Wednesday. Inland flooding and tornadoes will be the greatest risk today as Beryl moves north and east.
More than 1.1 million customers hit with power outages
At least 1.1 million customers have been affected by power outages in the U.S. as of 8:10 a.m. ET, according to CenterPoint Energy.
Outages have soared since Beryl made landfall in Texas a few hours ago.
As Beryl makes landfall in Texas, NBC News’ Savannah Sellers talks with Mitch Thames, a public information officer for Matagorda County, about the damage so far.
Texas coast hit with heavy rain and winds
Reporting from Port Lavaca, Texas
Hurricane Beryl has made landfall as a Category 1 storm on the Texas coast, slamming the state with heavy rain and winds. Flooding is a major concern as thousands are already without power. NBC’s Priscilla Thompson reports and the “TODAY” show’s Dylan Dreyer tracks the latest forecast.
Vehicles flooded and power lines downed in Matagorda, official says
Beryl has knocked out power for at least 11,000 households in Matagorda County where it made landfall, Mitch Thames, a county spokesperson, told NBC News.
“We have a tremendous number of tree limbs and power lines down,” Thames said.
While there were no reports of injuries, he said a number of vehicles have been flooded, which was expected along the coast with the high waves and storm surge.
“We’re not done,” he said. “If folks think we’re in the eye and the storm has passed … it’s going to come back on the other side with strong winds, it will continue to rain.”
Windsurfers in Galveston enjoy Hurricane Beryl’s waves — before being told to leave
A group of windsurfers took advantage of the high waves on the shores of Galveston Island in Texas yesterday, before Hurricane Beryl made landfall.
But a lifeguard ended their fun and told them to leave the waters.
More than 300,000 out of power in Texas
More than 300,000 customers in Texas have been hit with power outages as of 6:10 a.m. ET, according to PowerOutage.us.
Most of the outages were along the Gulf Coast with the 46,000 residents out of power in the coastal county of Brazoria.
In May, deadly thunderstorms with hurricane-force winds knocked out electricity to almost half a million homes and businesses in Houston, as high-voltage transmission towers were torn apart and power lines were downed.
Beryl ‘battering’ eastern Texas, hurricane center says
A “life-threatening” storm surge, strong winds and heavy rainfall are “battering” eastern Texas, the National Hurricane Center said in its 6 a.m. ET update.
Beryl was moving inland, the center said, accompanied by damaging winds hitting the coast.
The agency said a monitoring station in Freeport recorded gusts of up to 92 mph, with another station in San Bernard recording sustained winds of up to 52 mph.
More than 2,500 first responders on call for Hurricane Beryl
The Texas Division of Emergency Management deployed 2,500 first responders and 1,200 vehicles and machinery ahead of Beryl’s arrival.
This includes “swiftwater” boat squads; a public works response team; the Texas A&M Forest Service; the Texas National Guard, which has a Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters; Texas Highway Patrol troopers, who have helicopters with hoist capabilities, as well as teams from several other departments.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is on and with more than 100 staff prepared with 500,000 ready meals, 800,000 liters of water, 20,000 tarps, 2,500 rolls of plastic, and generators.
“Beryl is a resilient storm, and it poses a serious threat for Texans in its path at landfall and the following 24 hours as it moves through Texas,” acting Gov. Dan Patrick said in a press conference yesterday.
Windows boarded and signs removed in Texas
Apartment windows are boarded up in Corpus Christi yesterday in preparation for Beryl’s arrival.Local business owners remove hanging signs ahead of the hurricane’s arrival in Galveston.
Power outages hit more than 100,000 in Texas
At least 102,000 customers in Texas were without power as of 5:20 a.m. ET, according to the power-tracking platform PowerOutage.us.
Some 12,000 of those were in Matagorda in southern Texas, where Beryl made landfall.
Beryl makes landfall near Matagorda on Texas’ Gulf Coast
Hurricane Beryl has made landfall on the Gulf Coast of Texas, near Matagorda, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said today.
The hurricane was about 85 miles south-southwest of Houston, packing maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. That speed puts Beryl squarely within the bracket of a Category 1 storm.
How strong is a Category 1 hurricane?
A Category 1 hurricane is the lowest of the five categories, but it’s a still a major event that will prompt a wide-scale emergency response.
The Saffir-Simpson scale is based on maximum sustained wind speed — Category 1 means the storm will have consistent winds of 74-95 mph.
This means very dangerous winds that will cause damage. Well-constructed frame homes will sustain damage to their roofs, while large tree branches will snap and shallow-rooted tree will be taken down.
Perhaps most significantly, it could mean extensive damage to power networks, which could take days to fix.
Beryl strengthens to Category 1 hurricane, expected to make landfall in Texas
Beryl strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane last night, ahead of its anticipated arrival on the Texas coast, where it could bring a life-threatening storm surge and strong winds, U.S. forecasters said.
The storm’s maximum sustained winds increased to 75 mph late yesterday, upgrading it from its status as a tropical storm, according to the National Hurricane Center, citing National Weather Service radar and reports from an Air Force Reserve hurricane hunter aircraft.
Hurricane Beryl begins to impact Texas
The effects of Hurricane Beryl are already being felt in Texas. Flash flooding, strong winds and a storm surge are expected for early today and beyond. The “Early TODAY” program’s Frances Rivera and NBC News meteorologist Angie Lassman look at what is already here and what is yet to come.